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Police Put Ruggs' Speed at 156mph Before Crash

NFL player appears in court after fatal wreck
By Bob Cronin,  Newser Staff
Posted Nov 3, 2021 4:47 PM CDT
Police Put Ruggs' Speed at 156mph Before Crash
The family of victim Tina Tintor walks out of the Regional Justice Center in Las Vegas on Wednesday after a court appearance by Henry Ruggs.   (K.M. Cannon/Las Vegas Review-Journal via AP)

An NFL player was driving 156mph about 2 seconds before his car slammed into another vehicle in Las Vegas early Tuesday, killing a 23-year-old woman, a police report says. When the airbags deployed in Henry Ruggs' Corvette, it was moving at 127mph, airbag data show. Ruggs appeared in court Wednesday in Clark County, Nevada, CBS reports. Prosecutors said Ruggs' blood alcohol limit tested at 0.161, more than twice Nevada's legal limit for drivers. The police report says Ruggs refused to take a sobriety test at the scene of the accident but was tested at a hospital.

Tina Tintor and her dog were trapped in her Toyota RAV4 after Ruggs swerved into her lane and struck the vehicle from behind. The RAV4 caught fire, and Tintor and her dog were pronounced dead at the scene. Ruggs' girlfriend, Kiara Je’nai Kilgo-Washington, was injured in the crash. He's charged with driving under the influence resulting in death and reckless driving, per the Review-Journal, and prosecutors said other charges are possible. "I cannot recall a speed that high in my career on the bench," said the justice of the peace in charge during Ruggs' court appearance, per the Washington Post.

The wide receiver was dropped by the Las Vegas Raiders after the crash. Ruggs was released from the county detention center Wednesday after posting bail. His lawyer noted that Ruggs has never been in trouble until now and asked the public to "reserve judgment until all the facts are gathered." Members of Tintor's family attended the hearing but didn't speak with reporters. After the hearing, the district attorney called the crash a tragedy. "A woman lost her life. Another person perhaps lost his career, perhaps going to prison," Steve Wolfson said. "This was a very, very ugly day, yesterday morning." (More NFL stories.)

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