CLEARWATER, Fla. – Attorneys for the critically injured victim of a street racing crash involving Hulk Hogan's son filed a lawsuit Monday accusing the wrestler, his estranged wife, his son and another man with negligence.
The lawsuit filed in Clearwater by John Graziano's attorneys cites one count of negligence against Hogan's son, Nick Bollea, three counts of negligence against Terry Bollea (Hogan), one against Linda Bollea (Bollea's mother and Hogan's wife) and a final count against Daniel Jacobs, the driver of the Dodge Viper that Bollea was racing.
Clearwater police said the Aug. 26, 2007, incident happened when Bollea crashed his 1998 Toyota Supra while street racing against a silver Dodge Viper driven by a friend. A report said Bollea was driving faster than 60 mph in a 40 mph zone.
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Bollea's passenger, Graziano — a 22-year-old Marine who served in Iraq — was not wearing a seat belt and was critically injured. Bollea, 17, who was wearing a seat belt, was not seriously injured.
Graziano suffered serious head wounds, was left in a semiconscious state and his family says he will require medical care for the rest of his life. An attorney says millions of dollars will be sought.
The Graziano family is claiming in the lawsuit that Hogan and Linda Bollea should have known that their son was a reckless driver, and were also aware that their son was drinking on the day of the crash.
Bollea faces a criminal charge of reckless driving involving serious bodily injury. In November, his license was suspended for six months for allegedly having a blood alcohol level of 0.055 percent as a minor at the time of the accident. He was also clocked in April 2007 driving 106 mph.
Besides the reckless driving charge, authorities cited Bollea for using a motor vehicle in commission of a felony, being a driver under 21 operating a vehicle with a blood-alcohol level of 0.02 percent or higher and having illegal window tinting.
The blood-alcohol level at which Florida law presumes an adult driver to be impaired is 0.08 percent.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.