NFL’s Henry Ruggs charged in DUI crash, Ronald Greene autopsy revised

Update (11/3/21): Prosecutors provided new details on Tuesday’s deadly crash involving Las Vegas Raiders wide receiver Henry Ruggs III at his initial court appearance Wednesday. Ruggs is now accused of driving at more than 150 mph with a blood-alcohol content twice Nevada’s legal limit.

Since the initial police report of the crash, a reckless driving charge has been added to the expected DUI resulting in death charge. That bumps his potential prison sentence to as high as 26 years. Ruggs was not asked to enter a plea to the charges, pending the formal filing of them.

His court appearance came after the Raiders released him late Tuesday night.

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Original Story (11/2/21): Las Vegas Raiders wide receiver Henry Ruggs III is expected to be charged with felony DUI resulting in death after an early Tuesday morning crash. The video above shows the scene of the crash. Police said Ruggs was driving a Chevrolet Corvette a little before 3:40 a.m. when it crashed into the rear of a Toyota Rav4 in a residential area several miles west of the Las Vegas Strip. The Toyota caught fire, killing the driver. She was not immediately identified. Ruggs and his female passenger were taken to the hospital after the crash. Ruggs’ injuries were described by officials as not life-threatening.

“The Raiders are aware of an accident involving Henry Ruggs III that occurred this morning in Las Vegas,” the Raiders said in a statement on Twitter later in the day. “We are devastated by the loss of life and our thoughts and prayers go out to the victim’s family. We are in the process of gathering information and will have no further comment at this time.”

Ruggs is facing two to 20 years in prison for the crash. Probation is not an option for a conviction on a charge of DUI causing death in Nevada.

The Ruggs crash comes amid a possible major change to the investigation into a controversial police custody death. According to a person familiar with the matter who spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity, a revised autopsy ordered by the FBI in the deadly 2019 arrest of Ronald Greene has rejected the Louisiana State Police claim that a car crash caused his fatal injuries.

The person told AP the FBI received the revised autopsy this week. It notably removes the crash and “agitated delirium” from the list of causes in Greene’s original autopsy. The new autopsy instead attributes Greene’s death to a series of factors, including troopers striking the 49-year-old in the head and restraining him at length. Cocaine use was also cited as a factor.

It is unclear if the revised autopsy would prompt the Union Parish coroner to change the manner of Greene’s death from accidental to homicide. This could affect the charges available to state and federal prosecutors.

The FBI ordered the revised autopsy in light of long-buried body camera footage, vehicle black box data and other evidence that state police withheld from Greene’s original autopsy.