Crash victim's guardian seeks punitive damages against Hulk Hogan

CLEARWATER — Professional wrestler Terry Bollea and his son Nick should pay punitive damages because of the 2007 car accident that caused brain damage to Nick's passenger, John Graziano, according to Graziano's legal guardian.

Nick Bollea was driving with "conscious indifference" and "engaging in 'drift' like maneuvers or controlled fishtails of the yellow Toyota Supra before he lost control and crashed into a tree," according to the new court papers filed on behalf of Graziano.

Those actions and other factors amount to "gross negligence" by Nick Bollea and his father, Terry, better known as Hulk Hogan.

The court documents, which have been added to a previously filed lawsuit, claim that Nick Bollea, who was 17 at the time, had a blood alcohol level between 0.05 and 0.08. The state presumes a driver is impaired at 0.08. The documents also charge that his father "failed to exercise appropriate parental control."

"Surely, as a beer drinker himself, Terry Bollea should have at a minimum noticed the smell of alcohol on his son's breath," the court papers say.

The documents were filed by attorneys for Peter Musante, legal guardian for John Graziano. They cite some unconventional sources to support some of the allegations, including old episodes of the television show Hogan Knows Best, and Terry Bollea's new book, My Life Outside the Ring.