A court filing by attorneys for Henry Ruggs III cites the contention of an unidentified witness that firefighters were slow to extinguish the blaze in which a 23-year-old Las Vegas woman died on Nov. 2.
Tina Tintor’s Toyota Rav4 caught fire after being struck by a Corvette Stingray driven by Ruggs. Law-enforcement authorities allege the former Alabama standout was drunk and speeding at the time of the wreck, and Ruggs has been charged with four felonies that could send him to prison for more than 50 years if found guilty.
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As part of their investigation of the crash, Ruggs’ attorneys, David Chesnoff and Richard Schonfeld, are seeking a court order to obtain the Clark County Fire Department’s records about the incident.
“Firemen did not attempt to extinguish the fire at Ms. Tintor’s vehicle for approximately 20 minutes, at which time the entire vehicle was engulfed in flames,” the court filing says, charging firefighters were “in a position to extinguish the vehicle fire while it was in its infancy stages and failed to do so.”
A Wednesday hearing on the attorneys’ request has been scheduled.
A statement released to The Associated Press from Clark County on Thursday said there were “no delays in response or in the attack on the fire.”
“The captain on the scene reported that the vehicle was fully involved in fire upon arrival and the passenger compartment was not survivable for anyone inside,” the statement said.
The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department contends Ruggs was at fault in a crash that occurred at 3:39 a.m. Nov. 2 on South Rainbow Boulevard near its intersection with South Spring Valley Parkway in Las Vegas.
Law-enforcement authorities say Ruggs was driving a Corvette traveling at 156 mph 2.5 seconds before impact and 127 mph at the time of a collision. The LVMPD used data from the car’s airbag control module to find those speeds.
The police also reported blood taken from Ruggs within two hours of the accident at University Medical Center of Southern Nevada showed he had a blood alcohol level of 0.161 percent. The legal limit in Nevada is 0.08 percent.
· Driving under the influence of alcohol and/or controlled or prohibited substance resulting in death.
· Driving under the influence of alcohol and/or controlled or prohibited substance resulting in death or substantial bodily harm.
· Reckless driving resulting in death or substantial bodily harm.
· Reckless driving resulting in death or substantial bodily harm.
· Possession of a gun under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
In recordings of 911 calls obtained from the Clark County Fire Department by the Las Vegas Review-Journal, a police dispatcher initially relayed to a fire dispatcher: “It doesn’t appear that anybody is inside the car that’s on fire.”
But that was corrected by the police, and a firefighter cut in on the call, saying: “Just want to make sure that you guys copy that there might be someone still inside the vehicle that’s on fire.”
Ruggs is out on bail and in an electronic-monitoring program. A preliminary hearing for Ruggs’ case is set for Dec. 16.
A wide receiver for the Las Vegas Raiders at the time of the wreck, Ruggs was waived the night of the accident. He became an NFL free agent when no other team claimed his contract. Ruggs was in his second season with Las Vegas, which obtained him with the 12th selection in the 2020 NFL Draft.
A prep star at Lee High School in Montgomery, Ruggs caught 40 passes for 746 yards and seven touchdowns in 2019 for Alabama, then ran the 40-yard dash in 4.27 seconds at the NFL Scouting Combine, the fastest time at the 2020 event.
In 20 NFL games, Ruggs had 50 receptions for 921 yards and four touchdowns, 12 rushing attempts for 65 yards and 11 kickoff returns for 211 yards.
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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.
