LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Shock, grief and anger. The DUI crash of former Raider Henry Ruggs III triggered a heartbreaking memory for a local family who also recently lost someone to a DUI driver under similar circumstances.
“It just brought everything back as if my brother was deceased. It brought all those feelings up for us as if we were going through the same process of grief again.”
The fatal crash that killed 23-year-old Tina Tintor was devastating for the Anderson family. News of that collision triggered grief and memories of a huge loss. 58-year-old Walter Anderson was killed in early June near Russell and Rogers after a suspected drunk driver struck him while riding his moped.
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“It’s a hole that nothing or no one could ever take from any of us. They can’t fill it,” said Joan Anderson-Shelly, a sister.
Anderson was killed after police say 33-year-old Andrew Rodriguez hit him, driving more than 140 miles per hour in his Lamborghini and smelling of alcohol. The crash that killed Tintor police says involved former Raider Henry Ruggs III. Officers say he drove more than 150 miles before hitting her car while drunk. The Anderson family noticed the similarities.
“The families suffer. We’re part dead. Part of us is gone and part of that other family is gone. They will never be able to fully get back,” said Antoinette Alderman, also a sister.
The Andersons say they want to see tougher action on drunk or impaired driving.
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“Year after year people still get killed and there are no tougher laws. That’s not acceptable anymore,” Alderman said.
The family says decisions have consequences and says Ruggs could have made a choice to have a sober driver take him home.
“He just had to say take me home, and this lady could have been alive with her dog. Her family could celebrate holidays with her. She could have celebrated another birthday,” Anderson-Shelly said.
Rodriguez remains out on bail and has another court date set on Jan. 6. The Andersons say they plan on reaching out to the Tintor family as a way of showing support.
