Henry Ruggs III is Heading to Prison
He Drunkenly Killed Tina Tintor
Henry Ruggs III at a charity softball game. Photo by Erik Drost via Wikimedia Commons. https://tinyurl.com/4my25z69
NFL player from the University of Alabama, where they grow future pro players like weeds. He won a National Championship while there.
Drafted number 12 in 2020. You get a nice contract if you’re picked that high.
He was doing well, and in his second season. Not great, but lots of potential and a fair amount of success.
That was until Henry Ruggs III had twice the legal limit of alcohol in his blood in order to be able to drive. And drive, he did. His Corvette was going 120 mph when he hit a car driven by 23-year-old Tina Tintor. She and her dog Max, were killed. Specifically, they burned to death.
The police had tracked Ruggs’ Corvette traveling at 156 mph shortly before the accident.
His girlfriend was in the car with him. They had a little baby at home, a daughter who was one and a half at the time.
They had non-life-threatening injuries and were transported to a hospital where Ruggs’ blood was drawn and tested for alcohol content two hours after the accident. It was at 0.161%, over twice the legal limit in Nevada.
Ruggs' car. Photo by Steve Marcus via Wikimedia Commons. https://tinyurl.com/yrens49
Ruggs had previously helped with Three Square, which is a food bank. He worked to help get meals to people in need during the Covid-19 pandemic.
His teammates spoke well of him, and supported him.
Whether he’s a good guy or not, and whether or not he has an addiction to alcohol or not, the actions on that November night cost a young woman her life.
His defense lawyer was able to make some hay out of the facts regarding the blood test, and there was a dispute about why a sobriety test was not done at the site of the accident.
This caused the prosecution to accept a plea bargain deal.
Ruggs III has been sentenced to 3 to 10 years in jail.
This is his price to pay for pleading guilty to a count of DUI resulting in death and another count of vehicular manslaughter.
So, young Tina Tintor is dead. And the life and promising career of Henry Ruggs III have been shot to hell.
Ho-hum, you say? Another day, another fatal accident caused by a drunk, right?
The only reason to know about this one is that it involved a professional athlete.
To all of that…yes, it’s all too common. And yes, it would’ve only had local attention if it didn’t involve an athlete.
What I have to say from the perspective of a sober alcoholic is that if you’re getting drunk and driving, don’t be like I was. I was in denial that it was a problem.
Instead of dealing with it, I moved to a city where I didn’t need a car, and I got rid of mine.
That didn’t stop me from getting robbed at gunpoint while coming home drunk one late night.
I switched seats on the Titanic.
I ended up, somehow, in a life raft.
For the rest of the life of Henry Ruggs III, he must live with the fact that he got drunk and killed someone as a result.
Yes, he got some slick lawyers who helped him to get off easy. What that will do for him in the long run, we’ll see.
He’ll have choices to make if he survives his time in prison.
Every day, I thank God that I’m alive and sober and free.
I’m reminded by this story, once again, that I made it out alive, even though I drove drunk countless times.