Video shows Ruggs speeding in car with girlfriend, who says: ‘Slow down’
A video obtained by the Review-Journal appears to show former Raiders wide receiver Henry Ruggs speeding on a Las Vegas residential street with his girlfriend, Kiara Kilgo-Washington.
In the September 2020 video recorded by Washington and posted on her YouTube channel, The RUPrint, Ruggs laughs as he revs the engine of his car. The video was titled “Wild Out Wednesdays.”
“You look scared,” Ruggs tells Washington, who also goes by the name Rudy Washington.
The video has since been removed from her YouTube channel.
Ruggs is accused of driving impaired after a fatal fiery crash that killed a woman early Tuesday. Prosecutors said he was traveling 156 mph before the pre-dawn crash that killed 23-year-old Tina Tintor. His blood-alcohol level was also twice the legal limit, according to prosecutors. The car in the video appears to be the same one involved in Tuesday’s crash.
In the eight-minute clip, which has been edited by the Review-Journal to only show a driving segment, the couple listens to music and giggles as the words “SLOW DOWN” are displayed as video captions multiple times.
“Just don’t do it no more,” Washington is heard saying in the clip. “What you about to do?”
“Launch,” Ruggs responded. “What do rockets do? Take off.”
The car then lurches, causing Washington to drop the camera. “Slow down!” she said in the video, seemingly out of breath. “Take me back to the house. I dropped my phone.”
Related: Speeding tickets for Nevada drivers going over 100 mph have jumped 26%
Traffic citations
Ruggs faces felony charges and posted a $150,000 bond Wednesday.
During a court hearing, defense attorney David Chesnoff told Justice of the Peace Joe Bonaventure that his client has a clean record.
“What we have, your honor, is a young man who has never been in trouble before,” he told the judge. “From what we understand, never a traffic violation.”
But court records show that the Nevada Highway Patrol issued Ruggs two traffic citations on April 29, for using a cellphone while driving a black 2021 Ford Mustang, and driving with an Alabama-issued license for more than a year.
He paid a $428 fine, according to the records. A Las Vegas police report from Tuesday’s crash states that Ruggs had a state of Alabama driver’s license.
According to the report, Ruggs was driving his 2020 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray before he veered into the right northbound lane of Rainbow Boulevard before slamming into Tintor’s Toyota RAV4.
The impact pushed the Toyota, which burst into flames, more than 570 feet before it came to a rest near the intersection of Spring Valley Parkway, the report states. His girlfriend was also was taken to the hospital.
District Attorney Steve Wolfson said on Wednesday that he was told Ruggs had suffered leg injuries and that Washington had suffered a “significant” wrist injury.
Washington and Ruggs have a young daughter together, prosecutors said.
Authorities have not said where Ruggs and his girlfriend were headed Tuesday morning, but Clark County property records show they were a few miles away from his $1.1 million home when they crashed.
Contact Briana Erickson at berickson@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5244.
