It’s been nearly six-months since Henry Ruggs III was charged with DUI resulting in death, where he killed 23-year-old Tina Tintor and her golden retriever Max after going 156 mph, with a blood alcohol content of more than twice the legal limit.
The former Las Vegas Raiders wide receiver is facing up to 46 years in prison, and it’s still just a heartbreaking scene for everybody involved.
With that being said, a witness at the crash site, 47-year-old Tony Rodriguez, recalled trying to save Tintor from her burning car in an interview with Jeff Pearlman from Sports Illustrated.
Believe it or not, Rodriguez who is a heroin addict living in a garage, was on his way to steal copper wire from a construction site so he could make a little cash when he saw the horrific scene.
When Rodriguez sprinted to Washington, he could see Ruggs’ lower body still lodged in the car, but his torso and up dangling in the road, and Rodriguez was convinced he was dead.
He recalled:
“I was about to tell her not to move him, but it was too late… she grabbed and pulled him fully out.
I have no idea who he is. I don’t care about football. Never heard of Henry Ruggs. But I didn’t see no life in his body. I thought he was dead.”
That’s when Rodriguez and Ellis ran to Tintor’s burning RAV4.
Ellis ran back to the truck to grab a hammer, and came back and smashed her passenger-side window with it. When he saw nobody on that side, he ran over to Rodriguez who was kneeling by Tintor.
He smashed the driver’s-side window open, reached in, and felt Tintor’s arm, and screamed:
“Johnny! They’re here! They’re here!
Nothing was working. I started on the door, fighting to open it. To get this person out somehow.”
A security guard from a nearby business then came up and attempted to help Rodriguez save Tintor, but soon gave up after realizing there was nothing more they could do.
He mentioned to Pearlman that it still haunts him to this day, wondering if he did enough.
“People have told me I’m a hero. I’m not a hero. I’m not even close to a hero. A hero saves that woman… I didn’t.”
Tintor and her and her dog have since been memorialized with a mural in Las Vegas, right near the crash site.
It’s a depiction of Tina and Max smiling in front of a blue background.
The artist painted both of their names above the pictures, and added “in loving memory,” according to KLAS.
Family, friends, and supporters continue to leave photographs, candles, and flowers in front of the mural. Tintor’s uncle says that he organized the painting following her death.
Classy move in remembrance of a life that was taken way too early.
Ruggs has been hit with five charges, and could spend decades behind bars.
