Many of you recognize the name Hulk Hogan. Of course I still have flashbacks of my brother running around our house when we were little, in his red spandex and yellow boa. Some of you may have also seen Hulk's family reality show, "Hogan knows best." I have watched every episode of that show, and I was and still am a fan of it. I don't know why, but the show is kind of funny with Hulk. However, what I thought was a happy and stable hollywood family, turned out to be just another family tragedy. One reason this family fell apart, Nick Hogan. Born as Nick Bollea, he has had his share of wrecklessness. Throughout the show, Nick had always been featured with his cars, or talking about drifting and racing. However, the topic had always seemed to pertain to the race 'team' he was on. He competed legally on a track. I guess that wasn't enough for him. I'm sure he had been illegally racing and speeding since he got a license, or maybe even before. In September of 2006, Nick was stopped for speeding two different times, in the same trip. Although he was let off with a warning after the first stop, he didn't listen and was later stopped and ticketed for driving 115mph in a 70mph zone. At the beginning of 2007, he was ticketed for driving 57mph in a 30mph zone. In April of 2007, he was ticketed for driving 106mph in a 70mph zone. The last ticket caused him to receive four points on his driving record. Finally, on August 10th 2007, he was ticketed for driving 82mph in a 45mph zone.
So, within one year's time, Nick was stopped five times for speeding, but only got ticketed 4 times. Each time he was stopped, he was 'wrecklessly' driving. I don't know what kind of chats his parents had with him, or if he was ever punished or received consequences. Obviously the kid loves speed, but maybe if his parents had taken away some privelages, he might have eased up a little bit. Then again, this is Hulk Hogan's son who has probably gotten everything he wanted throughout his life. Little did he know, he would end up being punished.
Sixteen days after his last speeding ticket, Nick was driving his yellow Supra with his marine friend, John Graziano in the passenger seat. He was speeding of course and while driving in the outside lane, the car spun out across the road and smashed into the median and then to a palm tree. The supra was totalled. After both Nick and John were flown to the hospital, Nick was released the next day with no major injuries. Unfortunately for John, he suffered eye and brain injuries, and he wasn't wearing a seatbelt. Doctors say that he will most likely need to have nursing care for the rest of his life. I forgot to mention one thing, after the wreck, Nick's BAC was 0.005.
So because this 17 year old was drinking and speeding, his friend will be stuck in a nursing home with people having to take care of him for the rest of his life. Nick was charged with wreckless driving involving bodily injury, use of a motor vehicle in commission of a felony, underage drinking and driving under the influence of a BAC higher than 0.02, and illegal window tint. He turned himself into the police in November of 2007, and was release 10 hours later with a bail of $10,000. Witnesses of the crash believed that Nick was actually racing his car with another vehicle of his drift team members.
In May of 2008, Nick pleaded no contest, and was sentenced to eight months in jail, 5 years probation, 500 hours of community service, and got a suspended license for 3 years. Tape recordings between Nick and his father were released to the public containing comments he made about John being 'negative.' This of course ticked off John's family and friends, and made Nick look ten times worse. Nick claims that he was in a bad place in jail and was going kind of crazy, and he said things he did not mean. However, he was released in October of 2008 for good behavior.
The problem with John's family is that they do not feel that Nick got a stern enough punishment for what happened to their son, brother, nephew, cousin, etc.....That is the debate that still goes on today. Nick is not completely free, but he is out of jail, while John lies in a hospital bed trying to get through the day with many helping hands. I'm personally not sure what to feel on this. I think that Nick was a stupid kid for speeding as much as he does and not thinking that anything bad can happend with his wrecklessness, but in the same token, he did not know that he would crash that night. Sure he had to thought it was a possibility, but if he had of known the outcome of that night, I'm sure he would have reconsidered his actions.
Nick probably thinks about this incident every single day of his life, as does his family and John Graziano's family. They are angry because they will never have John back fully as 'himself.' Nick is upset because he will never have his friend back as himself. I'd say I am 50/50 on this one. I don't think Nick should have to stay in jail forever or anything, because he will pay for this the rest of his life. I honestly feel bad for both guys, but I definitely feel worse for John who will never have a 'normal' life again.
Here is a photo of John Graziano before, and after the accident.
Thanks for reading,
Samantha
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