Henry Ruggs III Was Traveling 156 MPH, Had a 0.161 BAC When Instigating a Deadly Crash

Sports

Henry Ruggs III, the former-Las Vegas Raiders wide receiver, made his first court appearance Wednesday in relation to his impaired driving charges that resulted in the fiery crash that ultimately injured several people and killed another.

The Las Vegas Review-Journal reports new details of the crash, including the district attorney saying Ruggs was traveling 156 mph just before the crash occurred, deploying the airbags while traveling 127 mph in the Las Vegas Valley.

Prosecutors requested a $1 million bail, but the judge (who is being preposterously lenient) ordered a $150,000 bail with a high-level monitoring system if he is released.

Information about his impaired state was illuminated. Ruggs’ blood alcohol level was 0.161, more than twice the legal limit of 0.08 for Nevada drivers. A loaded gun was also found in the wreckage of the Corvette.

“This is a very tragic and sad day in this community,” Clark County district attorney Steve Wolfson told reporters outside the courtroom. “A woman lost her life. Another person perhaps lost his career, perhaps [is] going to prison. This was a very, very ugly day, yesterday morning.” Said the prosecutor in the case, whose job it is to get a conviction and get justice for the injured parties. Bemoaning the loss of a drunken fool’s career. Sweet.

Ruggs will face additional charges related to the loaded firearm recovered from the car and injuring his girlfriend, Kiara Je’nai Kilgo-Washington (aka Rudy Washington), a passenger in the Corvette. He has yet to be charged with anything beyond what was reported yesterday.

Police say that the drunken wide receiver had suddenly changed directions into the right lane and slammed into the back of a 2013 Rav4 – rolling both vehicles – leading to the smoldering mess that the Rav4 became, trapping Tina O. Tintor inside.

The 23-year-old and her dog died at the scene, prosecutors said. Both Ruggs and his girlfriend were taken to University Medical Center with “serious” injuries. Ruggs was seen wearing a neck brace and had a cut on his nose, but “serious” seems apt. The district attorney said he was told, but couldn’t be shown, that Ruggs had suffered leg injuries – self-inflicted – and that Washington had suffered a wrist injury.

“We are going to adjudicate in the courtroom,” David Chesnoff, one of Ruggs’ defense attorneys, said. “We are not going to adjudicate it in the street.” Sounds like it’s going to be a sympathetic courtroom, so good luck.