Nov 7, 2007 3:17 pm US/Eastern
Hulk Hogan's Son Released From Jail
CLEARWATER (CBS4) ―
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Actor Hulk Hogan and his son Nick arrive at the 5th Annual Taurus World Stunt Awards on September 25, 2005 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Marsaili Mcgrath/Getty Images)
Photo by Marsaili Mcgrath/Getty Images
Celebrity wrestler Hulk Hogan's son was arrested Wednesday on charges stemming from an August street racing crash that left a passenger in his car critically injured, Clearwater police said.
Nick Bollea, 17, turned himself in Wednesday on charges of reckless driving involving serious bodily injury, said Clearwater police spokeswoman Elizabeth Daly-Watts.
Bollea arrived at the Pinellas County Jail handcuffed and escorted by officers. Clearwater police said he posted $10,000 bond and he was later seen leaving with his famous father and his mother, Linda. None of them spoke to reporters.
Both a spokesman for Hogan's family and his lawyers – Morris "Sandy" Weinberg Jr. and Kevin Hayslett -- issued statements Wednesday, saying the family was "saddened" that criminal charges have been filed.
"Because Nick is still a juvenile and has no prior criminal record, we are disappointed that he is being charged as an adult offender," spokesman Adam Handelsman said in a statement. "However, we are confident that the evidence will demonstrate that this was an accident."
The statement questioned reports that Bollea's driving at a high speed was the cause of the crash, saying "preliminary reports from the experts indicate that this was not, in fact, a high-speed accident."
Clearwater police said the Aug. 26 crash happened when Bollea lost control of his 1998 Toyota Supra while street racing against a silver Dodge Viper driven by a friend.
Bollea's Supra struck a curb and spun across two lanes of traffic before slamming rear-end first into a palm tree.
A report said Bollea was driving faster than 60 mph in a 40 mph zone.
Bollea's passenger, John Graziano, was not wearing a seat belt and was critically injured in the wreck. Bollea, who was wearing a seat belt, was not seriously injured.
Graziano, 22, has been deemed incapacitated, according to attorneys representing his father and mother, who are involved in a court dispute over who should care for him.
Besides the reckless driving charge, authorities cited Bollea for using a motor vehicle in commission of a felony, being a driver under 21 operating a vehicle with a blood-alcohol level of .02 percent or higher and having illegal window tinting.
Blood drawn about two hours after the crash showed that Bollea's blood-alcohol content was 0.055 percent. The blood-alcohol level at which Florida law presumes an adult driver to be impaired is .08 percent.
Graziano, a Dunedin High School graduate and U.S. Marine who served in Iraq, suffered a broken skull and has been comatose since the crash, according to medical professionals who examined him and submitted reports on his condition to court.
(© 2009 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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