Bollea pleads no contest to reckless driving charge, got surprisingly large sentence
By Matthew B. Zeidman
CLEARWATER, Fla. (Hollywood Today) 5/10/08 – Friday was a dark day for professional wrestler Hulk Hogan and his family. His son, Nick Bollea, pled no contest to a charge of felony reckless driving in a Clearwater, Fla. court and was immediately taken to the adjacent jail to begin his eight-month sentence.
The charge against Bollea stemmed from an Aug. 26, 2007 crash into a palm tree, during which the 17-year-old was allegedly speeding. Though Bollea was not seriously injured, his passenger, former U.S. Marine John Graziano, suffered significant injury to his brain. Graziano, whose parents have filed a civil suit against Bollea and his parents, was not wearing a seatbelt at the time of impact.
Misdemeanors also leveled against Bollea included the use of a motor vehicle in commission of a felony, operating a motor vehicle with a blood alcohol level of .02 or higher before the age of 21 and illegally tinting a car’s windows. After he is released, Bollea will be ineligible to hold a driver’s license for three years and must serve five years probation and attend alcohol education classes.
Bollea is best known for appearing with his parents and pop-singer sister, Brooke, on the VH1 reality series “Hogan Knows Best,” which premiered in 2005. The show was put on hiatus after the crash, which was followed that November by Hogan’s wife, Linda, filing for divorce. The network recently announced it would spin the series off into “Brooke Hogan Knows Best,” which will focus solely on the aspiring entertainer.
59 responses so far ↓
1 jim // May 10, 2008 at 7:57 am
I’ve noticed a lot of celebs getting their comeuppance in front of the judge lately.
I don’t see anything overly harsh about his sentence of restrictions. The laws are made for EVERYONE… celeb status or not! Looks like lawmakers are finally starting to realize this.
2 Bob // May 10, 2008 at 9:06 am
Even though he caused his friend brain damage, it was an accident, accidents happen.
Especially with younger people. Putting him in prison isn’t the answer. (tinted windows ?) A better punishment would be to make him care for incapacitated individuals such as his friend, for a period of time. A year or so of changing soiled bed clothes and feeding helpless brain injured people. This would have a much more profound impact on a young person than being stuck in a county jail as a celebrity with endless bank to share. He will learn little of the damage he caused in a jail. However he will learn allot about crime in there.
3 Jeff // May 10, 2008 at 10:05 am
Jail not PRISON how did a retard like you get this job?
4 TARL FURY // May 10, 2008 at 10:41 am
C’mon brutherrrr.
It’s time to layeth the smacketh down!!!
5 opinionated.jerk // May 10, 2008 at 10:44 am
For the comment from Bob – Not an “accident” from a responsible driver.. RECKLESS DRIVING… read about the crash and this kid’s history with cars… he was racing a tweeked supra turbo up and down the road like it was a drag strip… his cocky vanity plate was COEHSP… means Capable Of Evading High Speed Pursuit… lucky to be alive and not facing vehicular manslaughter.
6 David // May 10, 2008 at 10:46 am
Jail not PRISON how did a retard like you get this job?
The writer (Zeidman) got it right (“jail”). Headlines are done by another person.
7 Rob // May 10, 2008 at 11:09 am
OK, so the passenger was drunk, didnt wear a seatbelt and its 100% the driver’s fault. I guess thats how laws work but honestly I do put some blame on his decision-making as well.
Especially sad to see that happen to a member of our armed forces.
8 Sarah // May 10, 2008 at 11:11 am
Who cares if they said prison instead of jail? Does it make a difference? The kid is definitely getting what he deserves. He is lucky that his friend survived. I think it is pretty ridiculous that his friends parents parents are sueing them. All they want is money.
9 Mike // May 10, 2008 at 11:13 am
We have way to many people in jail.I know everbody thinks jail is the answer but it’s not.Jails are over populated
no other country has the prision population we do .Prision is not the answer.
10 serveshimrighy // May 10, 2008 at 12:36 pm
Like father like son.STUPIDITY is hereditary.Hope he gets passed around like a bag of chips in prison. He and the entire Hogan circus family she be held 100% liable for that young mans medical bills for life.
I guess he can lift weights and munch smuggled steroids in jail,there’s always pro-wrestling to fall back on.
11 nick // May 10, 2008 at 6:37 pm
u r dumb
12 donnie // May 10, 2008 at 8:36 pm
LET THE BOY DO HIS TIME AND LET IT GO.
13 Lucky // May 10, 2008 at 11:17 pm
Ya know, it is so very extremly sad what happened to that young man. And yes, the Hogans should have to pay for that young mans medica expenses. I firmly believe that Nick Hogan should face punishment and I even commend that judge for making an example of him. But at what point do we ask “Are you serious”. What about all the other celebs who have wrecked there cars so many times they have a whole junk yard now, or how about letting Mrs. Lohan off after she had Cocaine, freaking cocaine! But were throwing this KID, this 17 year old, all be it a SPOILED BRAT, straight in to HELL. He is still legally a CHILD. I don’t know, this whole country is Ass backwards! Of Course though, your just watch. R-Kelly will get off with nothing! To bad Nick wasn’t Black!
14 chris // May 11, 2008 at 6:37 am
let’s see put somebody in jail for smoking marijuana or for drunk driving… let’s see I think drunk drivers kill more than terrorists… let’s put these arrogant itiots in prison on felony charges.. accidents?? please he was drunk and reckless and could have killed an innocent person.. pot smokers don’t hurt anybody yet we have prisons filled with potheads cause of these stupid christain nancy reagen clone gergewbush drunkdriver itiots…
15 Matt // May 11, 2008 at 8:41 am
The term ‘traffic accident’ is a misnomer. Every crash has primary collision factor, which is the primary cause of the accident – nearly always preventable. This was a traffic collision that was preventable. He has displayed a pattern of reckless driving behavior, which culminated in the crash. Eight months is hardly harsh, he’s lucky he got that. Jail definitely has the ability to change people – there’s nothing like losing your freedom. If Graziano dies later as a result of his injuries, they can still file vehicular manslaughter charges against him.
16 amanda // May 11, 2008 at 2:02 pm
I agree that nick should be punished but jail is a little harsh considering that he is only 17, maybe house arrest would have been a better fit. I do feel very bad for the guy that was hurt but he was not completly innocent in the situation, he didnt wear a seat belt, he was drinking underage, and he also chose to get in the car with someone who had been drinking, so that should have been taken into consideration when he was sentenced.
17 Bob // May 16, 2008 at 8:03 pm
No doubt he is a spoiled irresponsible brat. But Jail is the easy way out. Caring for helpless people would be a better, more effective punishment. Ask Him what he would rather do, 8 months in county jail, or a year of caring for helpless vegetables ?
What would you rather do, sit on your ass with a bunch of guys watching TV, playing basketball 3 times a week, or cleaning up after people who cannot contain themselves all day long ?
Where are these judges heads ?
This kid will do 4 or 5 months in jail and be set free, to do as he pleases again. Shame on justice. This isn’t over with him, next time he will kill himself, and or others. The punishment I suggested is probably the worst thing a 17 year old kid with mega bucks to blow would ever want to do.
Perfect punishment. He would think before getting behind
the wheel and showing off like a punk kid will do. People just refuse to use their brain to think…. Thats a shame.
18 Myself // Jun 14, 2008 at 9:16 pm
17 is that big of a deal? I mean SERIOUSLY?
Okay, sure back in the day we all made mistakes. We did dumb things but everyone at the age of about 16, knew that “Damn, driving drunk is pretty stupid. Not to mention doing it with a friend and he’s not wearing a searbelt… or, in a car going X-miles an hour.”
Another thing the kid’s just an idiot, serious. Watching the show he’s FAR from spoiled. When you look at it he needs a major reality shock. Jail won’t be squat to him. He’s not going to “Ass-rape” prison, I think honestly their throwing him into a form of detentionary. Like those who have often been in a minor fender-bender and are revoked of their license, a friend of mine did that for a few months. They don’t send people into prisons for a few months, yearly and more.
Worst part he’ll get out before that on appeal, and good behavior. He’s just getting a light whap on the face.
The only thing that would do this justice, is if by some miracle he got stabbed in the line to lunch. After all, a good death of another twerp is overdue. We need some life-ending of these kids, to remind the generations that there are real consequences.
Quote: “Hey, stop riding like a moron. You don’t want to get put in prison like Hogan’s son, and be stabbed fifty times with a spoon!”
Ahh… good lessons.
19 jeremy // Jun 22, 2008 at 7:41 pm
it is sad that the accident happen but nick didnt force the kid in the car and i’ll bet money the kid was pushing nick to show him what kind of skills he has and as far as the law suit it just about the money!
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