LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — At 3:39 a.m. on Tuesday, on a 45 mph road, Las Vegas police say Henry Ruggs' Corvette plowed into 23-year-old Tina Tintor’s car at a speed of 156 mph, killing her.
Ruggs made his first court appearance on Wednesday and faces DUI causing death and reckless driving charges related to the crash.
Tony Rodriguez was one of the first witnesses to respond.
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"I thought for sure we were going to be able to do something. The fire was so small at the time," said Rodriguez. "It just grew fast. Really fast. There was one person with a fire extinguisher, a county worker, that didn’t work. It wasn’t enough. It was just so fast."
She was still breathing.
WATCH FULL | Raiders' Derek Carr, Interim Head Coach Rich Bisaccia speak to Ruggs crash
"Everything we tried just wasn’t working. The fire just grew so fast," he said. "She was actually still alive. You could hear her breathing. She had her seat belt on and I was trying to cut that away. Trying to grab them by their shoulders and pull them out but that wasn’t working. They were pinned. The seat belt was on, the airbags were in the way and the door was jammed."
A ticking time bomb. Minutes seemed like hours.
"It had to be more than 10 minutes. It felt like a lifetime."
Rodriguez had this to say to the family: "I’m sorry. I tried everything I could. My friend as well. I’m sorry."
Forever burned into his memory.
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Reporter Bree Guy: "You said you had her blood on your hands?"
Crash Witness Tony Rodriguez: "Yeah after noticing that I left the scene. I went home to go pray for her. Asked my girlfriend to pray. He got released though?"
Guy: "I think so on bail. $150,000"
Rodriguez: "It must be nice to have all that money. My son wanted to go to the stadium to watch the football game and I was going to go to a concert and I don’t think I’m going to go."
Guy: "So you’re permanently going to have these terrible feelings about anything Allegiant, anything Raiders?"
Rodriguez: "Yes. I haven’t slept since the accident. It’s horrific. It’s sad that somebody could be going that fast and cause that accident like that. I’m sorry."
MORE: Raiders' Henry Ruggs III to face charges in deadly DUI crash, Las Vegas police say
Tintor’s dog also died in the crash.
Respectively, we are leaving the family to grieve. We will continue to update you on this story on air and online.
