Hulk Hogan’s son Nick Hogan certainly didn’t know best when he decided to race his Toyota Supra through the streets of Clearwater, FLA., and Nick lost control of his vehicle on the rain-slicked street and crashed into a palm tree on August 26, 2007. Unfortunately, his friend John Graziano was a passenger in the car and the accident caused Graziano “to lose a portion of his brain, to be confined to a wheelchair and to be in a minimally conscious state requiring full time care,” according to court documents, filed by a car accident attorney on behalf of Graziano and his family, who later sued Hogan.
Graziano, a decorated Marine, was critically injured in the car crash. John Graziano suffered a severe brain injury in the accident and was hospitalized for two years. The car wreck happened just 16 days after Hogan got his fourth speeding ticket in 11 months.
In 2009, Nick, whose real name is Nicholas Bollea, pleaded no contest to felony reckless driving involving great bodily injury. A Florida judge sentenced the reality star to eight months in jail but he only served five. Following his release from jail, the Graziano family contacted a car accident lawyer and filed their civil suit.
In 2010, the Graziano family and the Bollea family settled. “We reached a settlement that was agreeable to all parties,” the victim’s family car accident attorney Kim Kohn told E! News at the time. “We are very happy because our goal all along was to ensure that John was provided with the appropriate care for the rest of his life. And the settlement will do that…The mom is very relieved and that makes us very happy. The court approved it this morning.”
The exact terms of the settlement were confidential. However, according to an article in the St. Petersburg Times reports the settlement was in the $5 million range. Following the settlement, which was obtained through the Graziano family’s auto accident lawyer, John’s mother Debra says she believes that there is about $1.5 million left after paying attorneys and hospital bills.
Like the the Graziano family in Florida, if you or someone you know has had a car accident, contact an experienced auto accident lawyer Washington DC by calling Cohen & Cohen at (202) 955-4529.
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