Nick Hogan’s passenger in his August 26 car crash will require lifelong care for his injuries. The passenger, 22 year John Graziano, a marine who had just returned from serving in Iraq, received devastating head injuries after Nick hit a palm tree while speeding.

According to court documents, the best the victim’s family can hope for is John’s ability to open and shut his eyes.

John Graziano’s mother, Debra Graziano, has legally petitioned a Florida court to permit her to assume guardianship of the 22-year-old, who remains in Bayfront Medical Center, the St. Petersburg Times reports.

Citing court papers, the paper reports that the most Graziano can hope for is to open and shut his eyes periodically. He was a passenger in 17-year-old Nick Bollea’s car when it careened off the road and struck a 25-ft.-tall palm tree in downtown Clearwater, Fla., police said.

The papers also state that Graziano was not wearing a seat belt. Police continue to investigate the accident, and no charges have been filed.

A nurse hired by the court filed a report on Sept. 19 that described Graziano as comatose and on life support, and also said he may have suffered a seizure, says the Times.

Nick had a long history of driving like an asshole:

Within the first year of obtaining his license, Nick was ticketed five times and received four points on his license. Those charges included a violation for going 115 mph in a 70 mph zone, 57 mph in a 30 and 106 mph in a 70. The most recent ticket prior to his crash occurred on August 10, 2007, when Nick was ticketed after his 1998 Toyota was recorded going 82 mph in a 45 mph active construction zone.

In an interview with Rides Magazine, Nick said he was pulled over three times in the same day while driving over 100 mph, and that the final time, the only one where he was ticketed, his actual speed was 123 mph in a 50 mph zone.

“In my silver Viper, I was driving from Miami to Tampa. I got pulled over going 107 [mph] and the guy let me off. He’s like, ‘Hey, I know who you are, just keep going, ya know.’ Dude, I got back on the road and two minutes later I get pulled over going 113 [mph]. Another highway patrol from the same county said, ‘I just heard on the radio that my buddy pulled you over and let you go. I’ma let you go this time. It’s your second warning. You get pulled over again, you’re probably going to go to jail.’ Three minutes later, [I was] doing 123 [mph] in a 50 [mph zone]. The guy is like, ‘Hey, I just heard you got pulled over twice in the last 10 minutes. I got to write you a ticket.’”

It breaks my heart that the lives of this poor kid and his family are ruined because of Nick Hogan’s reckless actions. Gah.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 9th, 2007 at 2:40 pm and is filed under Celeb Crime. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.