CLEARWATER, Fla. — Body cam video obtained Friday showed Clearwater police confronting Nick Hogan, the son of wrestler Hulk Hogan, during a traffic stop last fall — and the star himself showing up at the scene.
"You almost ran me over. It was me that you almost ran over when you were driving right by me, OK, when there's police lights lighting up the road over there," said the Clearwater officer, instructing the younger Hogan to step out of his truck.
Clearwater police spotted 33-year-old Nicholas Bollea, who's better known as Nick Hogan, driving a Dodge Ram truck after 1 a.m. Nov. 18, 2023, near Gulf to Bay Boulevard and Lake Drive as they were conducting a traffic stop.
A police sergeant used his flashlight to signal to Bollea to move over, but he did not swerve out of the median and slow down, the report reads. Police noted Bollea's truck was clocked going 51 mph in a 40-mph zone.
The sergeant eventually pulled over Bollea a few blocks east on Gulf to Bay Boulevard near Keene Road for a violation of the state's move-over law.
Bollea says on the edited and redacted body cam footage that he was heading home from the beach. The officer asked if he had anything to drink.
"No sir," Bollea replied. The officer said he could smell alcohol on his breath.
"Sorry, I was just kissing my girlfriend. I apologize," Bollea said. The officer replied: "That's, that's what you're going to say? That you were kissing your girlfriend and that's why you have alcohol coming off your breath."
About 20 minutes later, Hulk Hogan drove up to the scene. The 70-year-old appeared to be wearing a shirt with his face and was walking with a cane.
"How you guys doin'," Hogan asked the officers. "Good, man," he said in reply, "Just checking on my son."
"He's currently in custody for DUI," the officer said.
"DUI. Did he blow?" Hogan asked.
The police report indicated Bollea "did show signs of impairment and performed poorly on field sobriety tests."
"This is crazy. Sorry about this," Hogan said.
Roughly 10 minutes later, the wrestling star walked over with officers to speak with his son who was sitting in the back of a police car.
"You good, bubba?" he asks his son.
Online records indicate Bollea was booked in the Pinellas County Jail just before 4 a.m. on a misdemeanor DUI charge and was released later in the evening on a $500 bond.
Bollea was previously involved in a serious crash in late August 2007 in Clearwater that left his friend, John Graziano, with a broken skull and severe brain damage. The 17-year-old at the time pleaded no contest to reckless driving and was sentenced to eight months in jail.
He was released after just more than 150 days behind bars.