The case of Henry Ruggs III and a distraught family desperate for answers

Editor’s note: Wednesday marks one year since Henry Ruggs III was involved in a fatal car crash that killed 23-year-old Tina Tintor in Las Vegas. This story originally was published July 12, 2022. Ruggs still awaits a preliminary hearing — now set for Feb. 1, 2023 — to determine whether he will stand trial in state court.

LAS VEGAS — On the drive home from an overnight shift at Paris Casino, Pedja Komazec came upon a crash scene. To his right, a burned husk of metal rested in the middle of the road. He couldn’t tell whether it was a car or an SUV; its features had melted into anonymity.

On the curb sat a crumpled Corvette that belonged to Las Vegas Raiders receiver Henry Ruggs III. But that news hadn’t gotten out yet. It was hours before daylight on Nov. 2. By the time Komazec neared South Rainbow Boulevard that morning, fire had consumed whatever was in the street. Somebody got killed, he thought.

Komazec had seen enough wrecks in the 24/7 freneticism of Las Vegas that he hadn’t stopped to wonder whether he knew the person in that charred vehicle in the middle of the road. He turned and headed home.

Three stoplights away, a family was desperately trying to find their 23-year-old rock of the household. After working six days in a row, Tina Tintor had been out with a friend, walking her golden retriever, Max. She had texted her mom to let her know she’d be home late. But then calls to Tina’s phone kept going to voicemail.

Her family checked with area hospitals and clung to their phones as news trickled out. A celebrity, a football player, was involved in a crash. There were photos of that charred vehicle, a RAV4, and news that the driver of that car had died. Tina’s mother cried. Tina drove a 2013 RAV4.