Henry Ruggs' Lawyers Want Criminally High BAC Evidence Dropped In Fatal Car Crash Case

The defense team for former Las Vegas Raiders wideout Henry Ruggs is making a case that their client’s high blood-alcohol concentration was not responsible for a fatal crash on November 2, 2021.

Ruggs’ attorneys, David Chesnoff and Richard Schonfeld, submitted a bid to exclude the blood-alcohol evidence as part of the pending prosecution looming over the 23-year-old for his involvement in the fatal Las Vegas car crash.

Ruggs’ BAC was reported at twice the legal limit (.016 percent), per Nevada law.

“True probable cause did not exist,” said Chesnoff and Schonfeld, in a statement first submitted to Las Vegas Justice of the Peace Ann Zimmerman on May 23, as noted by the Associated Press. “The mere fact of Mr. Ruggs’s involvement in a fatal vehicle collision does not, in itself, give rise to probable cause to believe he was driving under the influence of alcohol.”

Ruggs — a 2020 first-round pick out of Alabama — was speeding in his 2020 Chevrolet Corvette at 156 mph and fatally collided with another driver near South Rainbow Boulevard and South Spring Valley Parkway in Las Vegas.

The Las Vegas Metro Police Department report stated that 23-year-old Tina O. Tintor’s 2013 Toyota RAV4 burst into flames after colliding with Ruggs, which initially sent both vehicles tumbling. Tintor was trapped inside the fiery car, alongside her pet dog, and died at the scene.

Ruggs was taken to the hospital and later booked at the Clark County Detention Center, as reported by OutKick’s Meg Turner. He is facing up to 40 years in prison and is currently under house arrest.

“This is a very tragic and sad day in this community,” said Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson, following the incident. “A woman lost her life. Another person perhaps lost his career, perhaps going to prison. This was a very, very ugly day, yesterday morning.”

Ruggs was officially released by the Raiders that same day (Nov. 2). He played 13 games his rookie season in 2020-21 and had seven appearances his second year before the fatal scene.

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