PINELLAS COUNTY, Florida A civil lawsuit was filed Monday in Florida on behalf of the young man seriously injured last year when Nick Hogan smashed his Toyota Supra into a palm tree. The suit uses standard language in seeking damages "that exceed $15,000." The most intriguing part of the lawsuit is the detailed picture it paints of the Hulk Hogan family as one that encouraged "reckless" driving.
Nick Hogan, whom the lawsuit describes as a "professional drift driver," is the son of Hulk Hogan, the former pro wrestling star, and Linda Bollea. The family is listed as defendants by their given names: Terry Bollea (Hulk Hogan), Linda (Hogan) Bollea and Nicholas Bollea. The lawsuit holds the parents responsible for "Nicholas Bollea's lack of judgment and careless manner of driving on the roads in the state of Florida." It also claims that Hulk Hogan bought alcohol that his son allegedly drank on the day of the crash.
"Oh, I love it, I love it," the lawsuit alleges Linda Bollea said about her son's street racing. "The rush, the speed on the road, stereoblasting [sic], heartpounding [sic], racing in between all the cars, dodging the cops. It's awesome." The suit was filed in the circuit court of the Sixth Judicial Circuit in Florida's Pinellas County, where the family lived at the time of the crash.
The lawsuit also claims that Hulk Hogan knew, or should have known, that the Supra had been modified to have "in excess of 400 horsepower."
The lawsuit charges that Nick Hogan and Daniel Jacobs, who is also named in the suit, were engaged in "racing from light to light." Nick Hogan was behind the wheel of a 1998 Toyota Supra that he jointly owned with his father; Jacobs was behind the wheel of a 2003 Dodge Viper owned by Hulk Hogan. John Graziano, the 23-year-old Iraq War veteran who was a passenger in Nick Hogan's vehicle, is on a ventilator as a result of the crash, according to Florida media.
Among the more interesting details in the lawsuit: the list of speeding tickets given to Nick Hogan. It alleges that he blew past a Florida highway trooper on September 17, 2006, at 107 mph in a 70-mph zone on the highway known as "Alligator Alley." Later that day, he was stopped by another trooper for driving 115 mph in a 70-mph zone. The lawsuit claims Nick Hogan would "practice and/or engage in 'drifting' on the public roads in the state of Florida."
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