Henry Ruggs III’s preliminary hearing moved to February

Henry Ruggs III’s preliminary hearing moved to February

Three weeks away from the one-year anniversary of the deadly traffic crash that led to his arrest, former Las Vegas Raiders wide receiver Henry Ruggs III got another new date for his preliminary hearing.

On Wednesday at the Las Vegas Justice Center during a status check one month after Ruggs’ most recent preliminary hearing was delayed, Justice of the Peace Ann Zimmerman set the preliminary hearing for the case at 11:30 a.m. CST Feb. 1, according to court records.

That’s when a judge will decide if the state has enough evidence to put Ruggs on trial.

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The State of Nevada contends Ruggs was at fault in a fatal 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. That’s when a Corvette driven by Ruggs struck a Toyota RAV4 driven by Tina Tintor, a 23-year-old Las Vegas resident. Tintor and her dog were killed in the crash.

Ruggs has been charged with 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, two counts of reckless driving resulting in death or substantial bodily harm and possession of a gun under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

The preliminary hearing had been set for March 10, then rescheduled for May 19, June 2, June 16 and Sept. 7.

When the parties appeared in court on Sept. 7, the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department’s final report on the incident was cited as the reason for another delay, with Chief Deputy District Attorney Eric Bauman telling Zimmerman the report had not been completed.

According to court records, the report has now been completed. But on Wednesday, the delay again was pinned on the report by the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, with the defense attorneys saying they needed time to review it before a preliminary hearing, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported.

Law-enforcement authorities say Ruggs’ Corvette was 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 Clark County Office of the Coroner determined Tintor died from “thermal injuries due to a motor-vehicle collision.”

The Coroner’s Office also determined that significant conditions contributing to Tintor’s death “were inhalation of products of combustion, fractures of the nasal bones, right-sided ribs and left forearm, and a left hemothorax.” (A hemothorax is a collection of blood in the space between the chest wall and the lung.)

The Las Vegas police department reported tests on Ruggs at University Medical Center of Southern Nevada within two hours of the accident showed he had a blood-alcohol level of 0.161 percent. The legal limit in Nevada is 0.08 percent.

After his bail was set at $150,000 on Nov. 3, Ruggs was released into an electronic-monitoring program. The use of SCRAM technology also is a condition of Ruggs’ bail. SCRAM stands for secure continuous remote alcohol monitoring.

Abstinence from alcohol was a condition of Ruggs’ release from jail, and he was ordered to wear a SCRAM ankle device on Nov. 22. Originally, he had been ordered to submit to alcohol breath tests four times daily with a hand-held monitor, but the conditions changed when he missed a test on Nov. 13.

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The Raiders released Ruggs on the same day that the wreck occurred. Ruggs was in his second season with Las Vegas, which acquired him with the 12th selection in the 2020 NFL Draft after he ran the 40-yard dash in 4.27 seconds at the NFL Scouting Combine, the fastest time at that year’s event.

A prep star at Lee High School in Montgomery, Ruggs caught 40 passes for 746 yards and seven touchdowns in 2019 for Alabama and had 98 receptions for 1,716 yards and 24 touchdowns in three seasons with the Crimson Tide.

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.