Judge rules blood alcohol test results allowed as evidence in case of former Las Vegas Raiders recipient, Henry Ruggs III, charged in deadly car crash, dog

A Las Vegas judge ruled Tuesday that a blood alcohol test is allowed as evidence in the former case. Las Vegas Raiders wide receiver Henry Ruggs IIIwho was accused of driving at 156 mph while intoxicated, causing the crash that killed 23-year-old Tina Tintor and her dog last November.

Ruggs was charged with multiple felony counts, including impaired driving resulting in death and reckless driving. A police report said Ruggs refused to take a sobriety test at the scene.

“Clearly there are time constraints in applying for a search warrant to have blood drawn,” said justice of the peace Ann Zimmerman. “In the aggregate of circumstances, there is more than enough evidence to find probable cause for the issuance of a search warrant in this case.

“So far, no one has mentioned that Mr. Ruggs was seriously injured in this accident and transported to the hospital, so he will not be able to perform on-scene sobriety tests. Coupled with his refusal to answer the question, this does not lead to a reward… Movements of suppression are denied.”

An attorney for Ruggs, David Chesnoff, argued that there was no probable cause for the tests, which were carried out about two hours after the pre-dawn crash. Authorities said Ruggs’ blood alcohol level was 0.16 – more than double the Nevada legal limit. But Chesnoff said that officers at the scene knew they didn’t have enough evidence for a probable cause, that involvement in the fiery crash was not enough.

Chesnoff insisted that didn’t matter to the sergeant at the scene.

“And that’s not right,” Chesnoff argued. “It matters, and it has to be important because, if it doesn’t matter, we’re in a lawless society.”

Authorities say Ruggs was speeding west of The Strip when his Corvette Stingray crashed into Tintor’s Toyota RAV4, pushing the Toyota 571 feet and bursting into flames. In December, a coroner ruled that Tintor and her dog, Max, had burned to death.

The 12th overall pick in the 2020 draft – the Las Vegas Raiders’ first draft – Ruggs was a standout player at Alabama, where he was one of the fastest players in college football.

He was released from the hospital, released from custody on a $150,000 fine, and released by the Raiders in the middle of his second season. Ruggs is under house arrest, with an alcohol concentration and location electronic monitoring device.

Ruggs is awaiting a preliminary hearing – currently set for September 7 – to determine if he will be tried in state court. That hearing has been rescheduled four times – the most recent coming last month.

If convicted, the 23-year-old faces a minimum of two years and a maximum of 50 years in prison.