One of the first people on the scene of the Henry Ruggs crash is providing new, horrifying details of the wreck ... saying he thought the NFL star was dead after he saw the football player "dangling" from his car in the moments after the accident.
Tony Rodriguez -- who was driving on Rainbow Road with a friend in Las Vegas just moments after Ruggs slammed his Corvette into Tina Tintor's Rav4 there back in November 2021 -- recounted the terrifying specifics of the night recently to Sports Illustrated.
Rodriguez told SI reporter Jeff Pearlman that as he approached the two wrecked vehicles just seconds after the collision -- he stopped at Ruggs' car first ... and noticed the former Las Vegas Raider was halfway ejected from his sports car.
Rodriguez said Ruggs' lower body was still in the ride, but his torso was "dangling" outside of it. He said he was going to tell Ruggs' girlfriend, who was a passenger in the Corvette, to leave him be, but said she had already begun pulling the wide receiver out.
"She grabbed him and pulled him fully out," Rodriguez said. "I have no idea who he is. I don't care about football. Never heard of Henry Ruggs. But, I didn't see no life in his body."
"I thought he was dead."
Rodriguez said he and his friend then quickly turned to Tintor's vehicle -- and tried their hardest to get her and her dog, Max, out of the burning car.
Rodriguez said he got a hammer from his truck and tried to break her free -- and even though others arrived to help, none could get her out.
Officials later determined Tintor died inside the car from thermal injuries. She was just 23 years old.
Ruggs, meanwhile, suffered injuries in the crash, but is expected to make a full recovery. He's since been hit with five charges -- including four felonies -- for his alleged role in the crash.
If convicted on all counts, he faces decades behind bars.