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Former Chiefs assistant coach Britt Reid charged with DWI

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KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Former Chiefs assistant linebackers coach Britt Reid has been charged with driving while intoxicated in connection with a Feb. 4 crash that left a 5-year-old girl with a traumatic brain injury.

The Jackson County Prosecuting Attorney's Office announced Monday that Reid, 35, has been charged with DWI-Serious Physical Injury, a class D felony with a potential jail sentence of one to seven years. Prosecutors have requested a $100,000 bond.

Reid was booked Monday before posting bond. He's set to appear again in court at 2 p.m. on May 27.

As part of his bond conditions, Reid is required to avoid consumption of alcohol and can't enter an establishment where alcohol is the primary item for sale.

Additionally, Reid is required to report to a dependency services clinic for pre-trial supervision, is subject to random drug testing and installation of alcohol and GPS monitoring devices.

According to a KCPD probable cause document, Reid's "serum blood alcohol concentration" two hours after the crash was 0.113%, which is over the legal limit of 0.08%.

Reid — who served as outside linebackers coach on his father, Andy Reid's, coaching staff with the Chiefs — allegedly crashed his Dodge Ram pickup into two cars on the shoulder of the road shortly after 9 p.m. near the entrance ramp from Stadium Drive to southbound Interstate 435 in Kansas City, Missouri.

The crash occurred three days before the Chiefs played in Super Bowl LV. Britt Reid did not attend the game.

According to a criminal complaint filed in Jackson County Circuit Court, Britt Reid "acted with criminal negligence by driving at an excessive rate of speed, failing to be aware of a disabled vehicle, striking it, and as a result caused serious physical injury to" a child in one of the vehicles.

Reid’s vehicle struck a disabled Chevrolet Impala, which had run of gas and would not start, and a Chevrolet Traverse SUV, which had arrived to assist the first vehicle, according to a partially redacted KCPD crash report.

The drivers of the two vehicles parked along the side of the road added gas to the Impala, but it still wouldn't start. The driver was out of his vehicle, retrieving jumper cables from the vehicle's trunk at the time of the crash.

Britt Reid was driving nearly 83 mph — or 18 mph over the posted speed limit — when the initial crash occurred, according to court records.

His truck clipped the front left of the Impala and was still traveling nearly 68 mph when it slammed into the Traverse, which was parked in front of the Impala, according to a KCPD probable cause statement.

Two children, including 5-year-old Ariel Young, were in the Traverse. Ariel was taken to an area hospital with a life-threatening brain injury as well as a skull fracture and subdural hematomas, according the police records.

Tom Porto, a Kansas City-based attorney representing Ariel and her family, told NBC News Monday the family had been hopeful for the most serious charge to be filed, and that's what they received.

Ariel, who Porto said was released from the hospital on April 2, had been sitting in the third row of seats near where Britt Reid's truck impacted the car. Despite her release from the hospital, Porto said she is unable to walk or talk and is fed through a feeding tube in her stomach.

Photo of Ariel.jpeg
A photo of the 5-year-old girl that was critically injured in a crash along Interstate 435 in Kansas City, Missouri, on Feb. 5, 2021.

The other child in the vehicle, Young’s cousin, also was taken to the hospital the night of the crash, but she did not suffer severe injuries. She was seated in the second row of the vehicle.

"The Kansas City Chiefs organization remains steadfast in our concern for all who have been impacted by this tragic accident," the Chiefs said in a statement Monday after the charges were announced. "Our prayers are focused on Ariel’s continued healing and recovery. The Chiefs are regularly in contact with the family’s designated representative during this challenging time.”

In a statement Monday afternoon, James R. Hobbs and Marilyn B. Keller, attorneys representing Britt Reid, released a short statement.

"Mr. Reid voluntarily appeared before the court for his initial appearance and was released on conditions of bond," the statement read.

Ariel's mother, Felicia, and her sister, who also was in the vehicle with her young daughter, told police they were both knocked unconscious during the wreck. Both also were checked out by emergency personnel.

The crash occurred near the Truman Sports Complex, but prosecutors said they have no direct evidence that Reid was drinking at Arrowhead Stadium.

However, Britt Reid admitted to police that he "had left work" just before the crash. He said he was looking over his left shoulder "to evaluate traffic so he could merge" at the time of the crash, according to a probable cause statement.

Britt Reid said the Impala didn't have any lights on, which is why he didn't see it.

According to a search warrant application 41 Action News obtained the day after the crash, Reid told a KCPD officer at the scene he had two to three drinks.

An officer with the KCPD DUI Unit smelled alcohol on Reid's breath and said his eyes were red and bloodshot. Field-sobriety tests performed at the scene also indicated Reid was under the influence.

Britt Reid underwent surgery after the crash, according to his father. The probable cause statement indicates that he suffered “a blunt force trauma injury to his groin requiring emergency surgery.”

Six days after the crash, Chiefs officials said Britt Reid was no longer with the team, which did not renew his contract. He had worked for the Chiefs since his father joined the organization before the 2013 season.

The NFL continues to monitor the situation.

“We have been closely monitoring all developments in the matter which remains under review of the league’s Personal Conduct Policy," NFL spokesperson Brian McCarthy said. "Following the completion of legal proceedings, we will address this matter and take any appropriate action.”

Previously, Britt Reid spent time in a Pennsylvania jail after pointing a gun at another driver during a road-rage incident in January 2007.

He pleaded guilty to charges of carrying an unlicensed firearm, simple assault, possession of a controlled substance and possession of an instrument of crime in connection with the incident, according to Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, court records.

While awaiting a court date, Britt Reid was arrested again and charged with driving under the influence of a controlled substance, possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia on Aug. 23, 2007.

His bond was revoked in the first case after the second arrest.

Eventually, Britt Reid was sentenced to eight to 23 months in jail for the first incident and one to six months in jail for the second. He was paroled in February 2008 and fined more than $10,000 in total.

Britt Reid, who graduated from Temple University in Philadelphia, started his NFL career as an intern with the Eagles on his father’s staff in 2009.

He spent 2013 and 2014 as a defensive quality control control coach with Kansas City before being promoted to assistant defensive line coach in 2015.

He served as the Chiefs’ defensive line coach from 2016-18 before moving to outside linebackers coach for the last two seasons.

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