TAMPA, Fla. - Celebrity wrestler Hulk Hogan's son got a warning and a speeding ticket after Florida Highway Patrol troopers stopped him twice for driving at least 160 km/h on an interstate last year, authorities said.
Nick Bollea, 17, who also goes by Nick Hogan, is being investigated for an Aug. 26 high-speed crash in Clearwater that critically injured his friend.
In an interview given before the crash, Bollea told Rides magazine that Florida troopers gave him two warnings and then a ticket as he sped at more than 160 km/h along Alligator Alley, a wide-open stretch of Interstate 75 that spans the southern tip of Florida.
Florida Highway Patrol Lt. Doug Dodson said Bollea was stopped twice on Sept. 17, 2006. Dodson said the first trooper gave Bollea a stern warning for driving at about 160 km/h in a 70-mile-per-hour zone (113 km/h), after the teen claimed he had a family emergency in Clearwater. The officer told a second trooper about 30 kilometres down the road to watch for Bollea in a black Mercedes.
The second trooper stopped Bollea for driving even faster, 185 km/h, and issued him a $305.50 ticket, Dodson said. Adjudication was later withheld on the ticket.
Clearwater police have said speed contributed to Bollea's Clearwater wreck, which remains under investigation. His passenger, 22-year-old John Graziano, remained in critical condition Thursday at Bayfront Medical Center in St. Petersburg, a hospital spokeswoman said.
