By STEPHEN THOMPSON of The Tampa Tribune
Published: March 24, 2008
Updated: 03/24/2008 06:31 pm
CLEARWATER - The guardian of John Graziano filed a lawsuit today against Hulk Hogan and family for injuries that left the Iraq war veteran in a semiconscious state after a wreck police say was caused by Hogan's son.
Guardian Peter Musante is suing the famed former wrestler, whose real name is Terry Bollea, as well as Bollea's estranged wife, Linda, who is divorcing him. The suit also lists as a defendant their 17-year-old son, Nick Bollea, who was driving the Toyota Supra on Aug. 26 when it smacked into a tree. The driver police say Bollea was racing, Danny Jacobs, 22, also is being sued.
The lawsuit does not say how much money is being sought, but George Tragos, an attorney for Graziano's guardian, said millions are expected to be required for Graziano's long-term care, hopefully at home with his family until the end of a natural life.
The cost of care for Graziano, 23, who is currently at James A. Haley VA Medical Center in Tampa, already has exceeded $1 million, he said. The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs is expected to try to recover at least some of those costs.
Graziano is not in a vegetative state, Tragos said, but in a semiconscious one. Part of his frontal lobe had to be removed, but he responds to heat, touch, and there's eye movement. On occasion he has breathed without a ventilator.
Part of the timing of today's filing is related to the increasingly bitter divorce between the Bolleas, said Kimberly M. Kohn, another attorney working on Graziano's behalf. Some of what could be divvied up or allocated – such as alimony for Linda, or child support for Nick – could not be touched in the pursuit of damages, she said.
Sandy Wineberg, one of the attorneys working for Hogan and his son, said today that he was not surprised by the lawsuit, but hadn't had a chance to study it. He said one of Graziano's decisions the day of the tragedy will come into play.
"A major issue in this case will be John's failure to have a seatbelt on," Wineberg said. "He wouldn't have been seriously injured if he had been wearing it."
Tragos scoffed at the notion. "The seatbelt didn't hit the tree," he said.
It was unknown what attorneys, if any, had been retained by Linda Bollea or Danny Jacobs to represent them.
Before the wreck, Nick Bollea – at the wheel of the Supra – and Jacobs ¬– at the wheel of a Dodge Viper – were racing through downtown Clearwater, police say. The Supra, which came from the factory with 300 to 330 horsepower, had been souped up to have more than 400 horsepower, the suit says.
Later, Nick Bollea was charged with reckless driving involving serious bodily injury. His case is winding through the judicial system. Danny Jacobs pleaded no contest in February to a charge of reckless driving and was sentenced to probation, with his license suspended for 90 days.
The lawsuit says Hogan is liable because he owned both cars and let both his son and Jacobs drive them, even though he knew both had a propensity to race on public roads. He also let his son "drift'' – or control the car while it is going sideways at a fast rate of speed – on public roads, the suit says.
Once, Hogan was with his son in a Mercedes when his son was stopped twice on Alligator Alley by the Florida Highway Patrol for driving more than 100 mph, the suit notes. He let his son keep his driving privileges.
Hogan is also liable because he signed off on his son's driver's license application, the suit says.
Like her estranged husband, Linda Bollea is liable because she allowed her son and Jacobs to drive the cars parked at her home, even though she was aware of how they drove. The suit cites a quote from the video "Vehicular Lunatics," in which Linda Bollea makes an appearance and praises street racing.
"Oh, I love it, I love it," Linda Bollea is quoted as saying: "The rush, the speed of the road, stereo blasting, heart pounding, racing in between all the cars, dodging the cops. It's awesome."
Her son is listed as a defendant because he was reckless and was under the influence of alcohol at the time of the wreck, the suit says. Court records say that two hours after the wreck, Bollea's ethanol serum level was .055, and he was cited for driving as a minor with a breath-alcohol level of .02 or higher. This was one of the reasons he lost his driver's license.
What the suit does not say is that one of Nick Bollea's defense attorneys, Kevin Hayslett, proved to a hearing officer with the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles that Clearwater police improperly obtained a blood sample from Bollea, paving the way for Bollea to drive again.
Danny Jacobs is listed as a defendant because he was speeding and engaging in "light to light" racing before the wreck, the suit says.
Reporter Rod Challenger of WFLA News Channel 8 contributed to this report. Reporter Stephen Thompson can be reached at (727) 451-2336 or
spthompson@tampatrib.com.
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