The weekly Tampa publication Creative Loafing ran an unfavourable article about Hulk Hogan recently. William Guevara was caretaker to Hogan’s parents, Pete & Ruth Bollea, for six years. In 2004 some of his parents money went missing and Hogan blamed Guevara, who was arrested and charged with third-degree grand theft, exploitation of elderly persons and fraudulent use of a credit card – even though the police, had they checked surveillance footage, would find that the money was actually being taken without permission by another relative.
Guevara and his sons worked as caretakers for many years, helping the elderly with errands, chores and miscellaneous tasks. Hogan’s chauffeur knew Guevara and introduced them in 1998. Guevara’s sons received $15 an hour to take care of Pete Bollea. Guevara looked after Ruth and never took a salary, merely accepting some gas money from her on one occasion. He came to think of her as a mother and Juana Mondragon, Guevara’s 80 year-old neighbour, noted that he was helping her all the time too without taking any money.
Hogan was never close to Guevara, blaming him after $10,745 went missing from his mother’s bank account as he was the only other person with access to her ATM card. Ruth asked that the charges be dropped when the surveillance footage finally came to light – after Guevara had spent thousands in bail and attorney fees. Guevara sued the City of Tampa for false arrest and wrongful prosecution but the case was thrown out in January.
The article notes that Guevara is particularly bitter about not receiving an apology from either the police or Hogan.
Credit: Wrestling Observer newsletter (click here for subscription information)
