Henry Ruggs appeared in court on Wednesday, November 3, for the first time after a Las Vegas car crash he was involved in left 23-year-old Tina O. Tintor and her dog dead. The former Las Vegas Raiders wide receiver has been charged with a DUI that resulted in death. According to the prosecutors, Ruggs was driving at 156 mph just two seconds before the crash and 127 mph when airbags were deployed, as reported on by Katelyn Newberg of the Las Vegas Review-Journal. Ruggs was driving with a blood alcohol level of .161, which is twice the legal limit in Nevada, according to the prosecutors.
The police report indicated that the Toyota RAV4 that Tintor was driving was pushed more than 570 feet on impact and “burst into flames,” per the Review-Journal. TMZ has acquired a video from a resident who was on the scene after the crash. In the video, the Toyota is engulfed in flames as police arrive on the scene.
Ruggs and his girlfriend Kiara Washington, who also goes by Rudy Washington, appear in the video as they sit on the street near his wrecked Corvette. Washington is heard audibly sobbing while Ruggs appears shell-shocked by the crash until he bursts out in anger. The video contains language that is NSFW.
“OK. OK, here,” Washington tells Ruggs while she holds his face in the video. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry.”
“F***! Stop yelling!” Ruggs responds.
One pedestrian walks through the scene and realizes who Ruggs is.
“That’s Henry Ruggs right here,” the pedestrian tells a police officer on the scene. “That’s Henry Ruggs right here. He plays for the Raiders.”
Later in the video, Ruggs appears to go in and out of consciousness. This sends Washington into a panic.
“Can we get help?” Washington yells. “Can you please help him? He is knocked unconscious!”
At one point, Washington talks to Ruggs and tells him what sounds like, “Think about Kenz.”
Washington and Ruggs’ daughter is named Kenzli Re’Nai and “Kenz” could be her nickname. The former Raiders wide receiver begins to sob after she tells him that. The video cuts off prior to the ambulance arriving.
The specifics of the injuries that Ruggs and Washington sustained in the crash haven’t been released but have been described as “non-life-threatening” by the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department. Photos show that Ruggs appeared in court on Wednesday wearing a neck brace and in a wheelchair. Further information about Washington has not been made public.
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Previous Video Shows Ruggs Driving Fast With Washington
The Review-Journal obtained a video that Washington posted on her YouTube channel, “The RuPrint,” in September 2020. The video showed Ruggs driving a vehicle and speeding in a Las Vegas residential area, according to the outlet. The video, titled “Wild Out Wednesdays,” according to the Review-Journal, has been deleted from Washington’s YouTube channel.
“You look scared,” Ruggs tells Washington at one point in the video, according to the outlet.
“Just don’t do it no more,” Washington says in the clip. “What you about to do?”
“Launch,” Ruggs responded, according to the outlet. “What do rockets do? Take off.”
After Ruggs accelerates, Washington yells at him to “Slow down!” and then tells him to “Take me back to the house. I dropped my phone,” the Review-Journal reported.
Raiders QB Preaches Compassion for Ruggs
The Raiders promptly released Ruggs on Tuesday night as more details came out regarding the crash. The once-promising wide receiver may never play in the NFL again and faces two to 20 years in prison, fines ranging from $2,000-$5,000 and a three-year driver’s license suspension is convicted of the class B felony in Nevada, according to Tashan Reed of The Athletic.
The Raiders could choose to completely move on from Ruggs given the situation but starting quarterback Derek Carr isn’t ready to do that. He expressed that now is the time to show the wide receiver compassion.
“I will always be here for him,” Carr told reporters Wednesday. “That won’t change, and I’ll prove that over the course of time to him, not to anybody else. He needs people to love him right now. He’s probably feeling a certain type of way about himself right now, and he needs to be loved. If no one else will do it, I’ll do it.”
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