TINA Tintor’s childhood friend shared that the 23-year-old was hoping to go into the computer science programming field before she was tragically killed this week.
Bojana Filipovic shared with 8 News Now that Tintor was from Serbia, and immigrated to the US when she was about five years old.
Filipovic also said that Tintor loved animals, and revealed that her friend hoped to return go to college to pursue a career in the computer science programming field.
Tintor and her dog’s lives were tragically cut short Tuesday, when her car became engulfed in flames, after being smashed into by former NFL star Henry Ruggs’s speeding Chevrolet Corvette.
Ruggs, 22, appeared in court Wednesday, where he was accused of driving 156 mph while intoxicated, and had a loaded illegal firearm at the time of the crash, which occurred in the central Las Vegas area at around 3am on Tuesday.
He is scheduled to return to court on November 10.
Read our Henry Ruggs live blog for the latest news and updates…
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PLAYERS AND ALABAMA COACH OFFER SUPPORT TO HENRY RUGGS
Raiders Quarterback Derek Carr, New York Giants star Kadarius Toney, and Alabama coach Nick Saban offered their support to former Raiders wide receiver Henry Ruggs.
“Our thoughts and prayers certainly go out to all involved in this tragic situation, especially the victims,” Saban said Thursday, . “Our thoughts and prayers are certainly with them. But our thoughts and prayers are also with Henry and his family.”
“These consequences are going to probably be pretty devastating to Henry. We love him. We’re going to support him through it, but we also have a lot of compassion for the victims, and our thoughts and prayers are also with them,” Saban added.
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DAVID CARR APOLOGIZES FOR ‘INSENSITIVE TWEET’
The brother of Raiders quarterback Derek Carr apologized for a poorly-timed tweet in which he predicted his brother would win MVP after news of Henry Ruggs’ fatal DUI crash.
“I’ll try this again, my apologies if the last tweet sounded incentive (sic), I just can’t imagine another team having to deal with so much off the field,” Carr tweeted.
“It obviously hits a little too close to home for a brother.”
Both tweets have now been deleted.
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DEREK CARR WILL BE THERE FOR HENRY RUGGS
Despite the backlash former Raiders player Henry Ruggs is facing after the deadly car crash this week which claimed the lives of a 23-year-old woman and her dog, one of his teammates said he will support him.
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‘LIZZY’
The NFL star named his Chevrolet Corvette supercar Lizzy before he was involved in a deadly high-speed crash that killed a woman.
He gave viewers a tour of the outside of the flashy vehicle as he walked around showing it off.
The impressive car has candy-painted brakes and emblems, and the inside of the luxury vehicle is kitted out with crimson tide leather and suede, according to Dreamworks Motor Sports.
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HAS HENRY RUGGS BEEN CHARGED WITH ANYTHING?
The 22-year-old has been charged with two felony counts, DUI, and reckless driving, which could earn him up to 20 years in prison if convicted.
He was booked into the Clark County Jail in Las Vegas.
Ruggs III appeared before a local judge on November 3, 2021. A judge set his bail at $150,000. He will also have to abstain from alcohol and other controlled substances. He was ordered to surrender his passport and he cannot drive.
He is slated to return to court on November 10.
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TINA TINTOR’S FINAL HOURS, CONTINUED
Tintor dropped her friend off at home and was about a mile from her house when police said Ruggs sped down Rainbow Boulevard at 156mph in his Chevrolet Corvette.
The sportscar slammed into the back of Tintor’s Toyota Rav4 and sent both cars more than 500 feet down the road.
Ruggs allegedly had a blood-alcohol level of .161, more than twice the legal limit in Nevada.
He refused a sobriety test at the scene, police said, but later blood tests were taken at the hospital showing his intoxication levels.
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TINA TINTOR’S FINAL HOURS
Tintor’s best friend, Bojana Filipovic, had been with her just hours before the fatal crash.
The pair had taken Maxi for a late-night walk, as they often do, she said.
“We always go to parks and walk her dogs and just hang out and have a good time,” Filipovic said.
“And just think about our future. We were just talking about going to Serbia together. She was just about to get her citizenship and everything was going swell.”
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RUGGS WAS ‘SLURRING WORDS’ AFTER DEADLY CRASH
Ruggs apparently told cops to “get him out of the hospital” as they tried to speak to him, KLAS reports.
He then tried to remove IVs from his arm and started yelling “get me the f**k out of here”, according to a police report.
The document stated: “Ruggs refused to listen to hospital staff and yelled they were not doing anything for him.”
Cops claimed the athlete told officers that he was going home as they quizzed him at the crash site, according to local media reports.
Ruggs was also slurring his words, according to the police report cited by the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
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‘THEY WERE PINNED’
Witness Tony Rodriguez said that despite his and other witnesses’ efforts, they couldn’t free Tintor or her dog from her car after the crash.
As the fire continued to build, Tintor began to fade.
“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.”
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RUGGS WAS SEEN PLAYING GOLF HOURS BEFORE CRASH
The Las Vegas football star was recorded by his girlfriend, Rudy Washington, taking swings at the TopGolf course in Las Vegas barely four hours before he is accused of drunkenly ramming his Corvette into 23-year-old Tina Tintor’s SUV.
In the video, Washington is seen sitting at a table with another man while telling Ruggs “you be under pressure when you on camera.”
“That’s what it is,” she said to Ruggs, who did not appear to be intoxicated at the time.
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TINA TINROR’S FAMILY’S STATEMENT
Tintor’s family released their first official statement on Friday to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
“Tina’s tragic loss has devastated her family beyond a grief they could ever comprehend. Family was everything to Tina, and she was the light of her parents’ life,” the statement reads.
“She loved her 3-year-old Golden Retriever, Max, who passed alongside her Tuesday morning.”
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FACING 20 YEARS IN PRISON
In a preliminary assessment of the incident, Las Vegas police suggested Ruggs “showed signs of impairment” after the crash.
He’s now facing DUI resulting in death, which under Nevada law is a Class B felony and reckless driving resulting in death or substantial bodily harm, according to USA Today.
If convicted of both, Ruggs could be sentenced up to 20 years in prison for the DUI and up to six years for reckless driving charge.
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VICTIM’S FRIEND CALLS RUGGS ‘SELFISH’
Devante Burnham, a close school friend of Tina’s who attended Durango High School in Vegas with her, exclusively told The Sun: “I spoke to her a month ago. I happened to see her around the Summerlin area and I greeted her.
“Her and I have been friends since we were sophomores in high school. It is heartbreaking. I can’t believe it. She was a wonderful soul.”
Hitting out at Ruggs, he blasted: “To me that kind of behavior is selfish. Because he’s not thinking about anyone’s well-being nor the possible fatal outcome and destruction he could cause.
“It’s selfish and it didn’t need to happen.”
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VICTIM WAS ‘JUST ABOUT TO GER HER CITIZENSHIP’
Tina Tintor’s best friend, Bojana Filipovic, had been with her just hours before the fatal crash.
The pair had taken Maxi for a late-night walk, as they often do, she said.
“We always go to parks and walk her dogs and just hang out and have a good time,” Filipovic said.
“And just think about our future. We were just talking about going to Serbia together. She was just about to get her citizenship and everything was going swell.”
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TINA TINTOR’S MOM RECOGNIZED DAUGHTER’S CAR ON TV
“Hey this could be her car, I checked the news,” Tina Tintor’s mother told her daughter’s best friend Bojana Filipovic, who recalled the conversation in an interview with The Sun.
Like Tintor’s mother, Filipovic had woken up on Tuesday concerned that her best friend was involved in the deadly crash on Rainbow Boulevard nearby the Sunset Strip.
“I knew immediately it was going to be her car,” she said. “I was distraught.
“I was just hoping it wasn’t her.”
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NEW FOOTAGE OF CRASH SCENE
New footage shows Tina Tintor’s car on fire, and Henry Ruggs sitting on the side of the road.
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OUTRAGE OVER ‘SPEED KILLS’ T-SHIRTS
Social media users are calling for the merchandise with the slogan “Speed Kills” to be removed online.
Journalist Hunter S. Thompson attributed the quote to the former owner and general manager of the Oakland Raiders Al Davis, according to the Focus.
The exact quote is: “Speed kills. You can’t teach speed. Everything else in the game can be taught but speed is a gift from God.
It has been used recently when referring to Ruggs, who appeared to adopt the mantra.
The athlete, renowned for his speed, was the fastest player at the 2020 NFL combine as he completed a 40-yard dash in 4.27-seconds.
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WHAT HAVE THE RAIDERS SAID?
After the events transpired, the Raiders released a statement regarding the accident, writing: “We are devastated by the loss of life and our thoughts and prayers go out to the victim’s family.”
The team also announced they were releasing Ruggs III as of November 2.
Similarly, the NFL released a statement, saying: “Our hearts go out to the family and friends of the victim of this horrific tragedy.
“We will continue to gather facts and monitor the matter under our policies, but our thoughts at this time are with those impacted by this devastating incident.”
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‘SHE ALWAYS KNEW RIGHT FROM WRONG’
Her best friend remembered Tintor as a principled person who boasted both looks and charm and most of all was always honest.
“She was beautiful, smart, intuitive, she always knew right from wrong,” Filipovic reflected. “She would always slap some sense into me.”
Tintor also lightened up her close circle of friends who often revelled together in the city.
“She was like a little closed off, a little shell, but she did enjoy going out with a lot of her close friends,” recalled Filipovic.
“Everybody that we meet in Vegas ends up being crazy, we have a ton of stories, but she had a group of close friends who are good people.”
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$150K BAIL
The 22-year-old wide receiver appeared in a neck brace in court Wednesday on pending felony charges of driving under the influence of alcohol resulting in death and reckless driving.
Judge Joe Bonaventure set Ruggs’ bail at $150,000 with the highest level of electronic monitoring.
State prosecutors had sought a $1 million bond.
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HOW FAST WAS RUGGS DRIVING BEFORE THE CRASH?
At around 3.39am on Tuesday, former Las Vegas Raider Henry Ruggs III, 22, was allegedly drunk when he slammed his 2020 Chevrolet Corvette into 23-year-old Tintor’s SUV killing her and her dog.
Authorities say Ruggs, who was twice the legal alcohol limit, was driving at 156 miles per hour when he reportedly attempted to slow down, and skidded 570 feet before slamming Tintor’s Toyota Rav 4.
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RUGGS ASKED ‘WHAT IS THIS GUY DOING?’ BEFORE CRASH
Henry Ruggs III allegedly announced moments before the pileup, “What is this guy doing,?” and then allegedly hit the brakes of his 2020 Chevrolet Corvette.
The sports car then skidded 570 feet before slamming into Tinto’s Toyota Rav-4 which burst into flames.
The admission came from Ruggs’ girlfriend, 22-year-old Rudy Washington who was with him during the flaming car crash.
It’s unclear who the driver was that Ruggs was questioning.
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VICTIM’S BOYFRIEND ‘CRUSHED BY LOSS’
Tina, 23, died early on Tuesday morning in a fireball crash after Ruggs slammed into the back of her Toyota Rav-4 after reaching a speed of up to 156mph while allegedly driving drunk – and a close friend exclusively told The Sun her partner is devastated.
“She had a boyfriend, Randall,” Bojana Filipovic, Tintor’s best friend, exclusively told The Sun. “They’d been together almost two years now.
Filipovic recalled how she and Tintor had been enjoying an early morning together just minutes before the friend would see her and her pooch for the last time.
“He’s crushed and feels terrible, don’t we all,” the friend, who asked to remain anonymous, said.
“We all lost our best friend.”
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‘LIZZY’
The NFL star named his Chevrolet Corvette supercar Lizzy before he was involved in a deadly high-speed crash that killed a woman.
He gave viewers a tour of the outside of the flashy vehicle as he walked around showing it off.
The impressive car has candy-painted brakes and emblems, and the inside of the luxury vehicle is kitted out with crimson tide leather and suede, according to Dreamworks Motor Sports.
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WHO WAS THE VICTIM OF THE CRASH?
Tina Tintor was the driver of the Toyota Rav-4 that caught flames after Henry Ruggs III crashed into it.
Tintor was 23 years old and was pronounced dead at the scene.
It has been reported that Tintor burned to death after being hit by Ruggs’ car.
Police responded to the crash in Las Vegas at around 3.39am on Tuesday.