Nick Hogan (mugshot shown above left), son of former professional wrestler Hulk Hogan, faces criminal charges for his August 26, 2007 car accident that has left his passenger and longtime friend, John Graziano (shown above right), in a coma. TMZ reports:
Clearwater PD today released details of their investigation into the August 26 crash. In addition to being arrested for reckless driving involving serious bodily injury, cops also cited Hogan for use of a motor vehicle in the commission of a felony, a person under the age of 21 operating a vehicle with a breath-alcohol level of .02 or higher and having an Illegal window tint."
So, prior to the crash, Nick Hogan had been DRINKING. This is not good news for the Hogan family. In response to the aforementioned felony charges, Adam Handelsman, Nick Hogan's representative, issued the following statement to TMZ:
Nick and the entire Hogan Bollea family are saddened that criminal charges have been filed in regards to the tragic single car accident on August 26, 2007. Nick will meet and answer these charges in the appropriate arena a court of law. The family's primary focus and concern still remains for the continued recovery of Nick's longtime friend John Graziano. The Bolleas will also continue to stand by the Graziano family and help them in any way they can."
Furthermore, it seems that the Hogan Bollea family is also desperately trying to find a way to make this not look as bad as it really is. They even tried to make it clear that Nick was wearing his seatbealt while John Graziano was not, seemingly trying to place some blame on the actions of the young man in a coma.
The tragedy to both families is compounded by the fact that unfortunately John was not wearing his seatbelt. Thankfully, Nick was wearing his. Because of what happened to John, the entire Bollea family will make it a priority to increase public awareness about the importance of always wearing your seatbelt. There has been much speculation as to the speed and wet road conditions surrounding this accident. Although all the evidence has not been evaluated, preliminary reports from the experts indicate that this was not, in fact, a high-speed accident. Because Nick is still a juvenile and has no prior criminal record, we are disappointed that he is being charged as an adult offender. However, we are confident that the evidence will demonstrate that this was an accident."
Although these charges are indeed very powerful, Nick should understand that if the worst were ever to happen to John Graziano, he would be facing gross vehicular homicide charges for the death of his passenger as well as the aforementioned charges that have already been issued. Clearly this is a very difficult time for the Hogans and the Grazianos and our thoughts are with both families. We will keep you posted on any further developments.
