TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Hogan wants wife's beau to not drive family cars, boats

ADVERTISEMENT

By STEPHEN THOMPSON

spthompson@tampatrib.com

Published: April 9, 2009

CLEARWATER - Hulk Hogan's attempt to stop Linda Bollea from letting her 20-year-old boyfriend drive the estranged couple's boats and cars is merely a ploy to control her love life, Linda Bollea's attorney said in court today.

Attorney Raymond Rafool's remarks came at a hearing set after Hogan asked Pinellas Circuit Judge George Greer to prohibit Linda Bollea from letting her boyfriend Charlie Hill drive the couple's Escalade, Mercedes, Sea Doo, and Donzi boat.

Greer put off deciding the issue after Rafool argued Greer doesn't have the power to issue an injunction telling Linda Bollea who she can allow to drive the various cars and boats in her possession.

Hogan's argument is that, if Hill drives the various vessels, he exposes Hogan and Hogan's family to a tremendous amount of liability, especially in light of Charlie Hill's history of traffic violations.

The Hogan family already faces one potentially withering lawsuit stemming from the Aug. 26, 2007 wreck in which John Graziano, a passenger in a car driven by Nick Bollea, the couple's son, suffered severe brain damage.

Hogan, whose real name is Terry Bollea, took the stand today at the hearing with his arm in a sling. He reiterated what was in a motion his attorneys filed two weeks ago – that anyone who drives a vehicle more than twelve times a year has to be added to an insurance policy if that person is to be covered.

"Charlie drives the vehicles on a constant basis," Hogan said.

Hill also has a problem with drugs, according to the testimony of Sheri Stein, the owner of a personal watercraft company in Clearwater who once employed Hill. Stein testified today she fired Hill after two weeks because he was "a liability to the company."

"He would come to the business stone-high from the night before," Stein testified. "He would literally tell me he was doing drugs."

Stein said that, of late, she has seen Hill drive Linda's Escalade, as well as her boat. Stein testified Hill docks the boat at the marina in Clearwater and then buys beer and ice from a convenience store.

"They are usually drinking when they are on the boat," she said.

When he was working for her, he said he told her he was doing Ecstasy the night before.

"I don't think Charlie is the smartest knife in the drawer, to tell you the truth," she said.

Rafool called Hogan's girlfriend to the stand, in an apparent attempt to juxtapose her activities against Hill's.

But Jennifer McDaniel, a 33-year-old former cocktail waitress at a strip club, said she stopped driving any of Hogan's vehicles once Hogan discovered anyone who did so more than twelve times in a given year wasn't covered. Even before that, she said, she drove his Mercedes, Dodge Charger and personal watercraft only a few times.

At one point, McDaniel helped Hogan maneuver his black jacket around his sling before he testified.

Neither Linda Bollea nor Charlie Hill attended the hearing.

Rafool argued that both the Escalade and the Mercedes Hill has driven – and a Sea Doo and Donzi boat -- are in Linda's possession under a temporary order put in place while she and Hogan battle over their divorce in court. But Hogan said he thought only Linda was able to operate the vehicles under the temporary order.

"It doesn't say anybody can drive it," Hogan said on the stand, "especially if there is drugs or alcohol involved."

Rafool said that wasn't true. Since they are in Linda Bollea's possession, he said, she can let anyone she wants operate them. Hogan thinks if Hill gets into a wreck, that could result in a second lawsuit against the family, the financial repercussions of which could be devastating.

"I don't want any more of these nightmares hanging over my head," Hogan testified, referring to the Graziano lawsuit. "I think I'm going to get drug under the bus again."

Judge Greer said he couldn't understand why either Hogan or Linda Bollea would allow anyone to operate their various cars and boats without insurance, given what's happened in the Graziano case.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT