Family of 5-year-old crash victim: Britt Reid’s felony DWI charge not ‘harsh enough’
A cousin of 5-year-old crash victim Ariel Young said her family is glad former Kansas City Chiefs assistant coach Britt Reid has “finally” been charged after the February accident that left the girl severely injured. But the family was not at peace when Reid was charged with committing the class D felony of driving while intoxicated.
“We don’t believe the charges are fair or harsh enough,” cousin Tiffany Verhulst, who has organized the GoFundMe for Young’s medical expenses, told USA TODAY Sports on Monday afternoon. “It’s been incredibly hard knowing he’s out every day living his normal life and Ariel’s life is completely changed.
“Our whole family’s life changed due to him making the decision to drink and drive.”
According to charging documents released Monday by the office of Jackson County prosecutor Jean Peters Baker, Reid’s eyes were bloodshot and red, the odor of intoxicants on him, when a police officer responded to the site where his Dodge Ram pickup truck hit two sedans stopped on the side of the road. Reid was found to have a serum blood alcohol concentration at .113 roughly two hours after the Feb. 4 crash.
Britt Reid is no longer an employee of the Kansas City Chiefs. (Photo: Mark Brown, Getty Images)
Reid, the son of Chiefs head coach Andy Reid, told police he was coming from the team facility when the crash occurred three days before the Super Bowl. He was driving 83.9 mph in a 65-mph zone 1.9 seconds prior to the crash, police investigators said.
Young, who was found in the rear of the car under a seat that had folded over, was transported by ambulance to Children’s Mercy Hospital. According to medical records, the prosecutor’s charging documents said, she suffered injuries including severe traumatic brain injury, left parietal (skull) fracture, brain contusions and subdural hematomas. Young entered into a coma; 11 days afterward, her family announced she was awake.
Young remained in the hospital through February and March before she was released on April 2, family attorney Tom Porto told USA TODAY Sports.
“The hope is that her pediatric brain injury will heal better in a familiar setting,” Porto said. “As of right now, she still cannot walk or talk and depends on a feeding tube for basic nutrition.”
Britt Reid had been cited by law enforcement for speeding or careless driving on at least three prior occasions, including in Pennsylvania in 2011, and in 2018 and 2019 in Missouri.
On Jan. 30, 2007, in Pennsylvania, Reid was arrested after an incident in which he was accused of pointing a gun at another driver. Reid pleaded guilty to charges for simple assault, carrying a firearm without a license and possessing a controlled substance without registration. That same day, his brother Garrett — who died from a heroin overdose in 2012 at 29 — was arrested in another accident involving drug use.
Britt Reid pleaded guilty to three more charges stemming from an August 2007 incident in the parking lot of a sporting goods store: driving under the influence of a controlled substance; possessing a controlled substance without registration; and use and possession of drug paraphernalia. He also had been arraigned for careless driving, court records show.
Reid coached under his father in Kansas City the last eight seasons, working with outside linebackers and defensive linemen. His contract expired at season’s end and was not renewed. The NFL said it would investigate, a league spokesman confirmed to USA TODAY Sports in February.
Porto, Young’s family attorney, said Monday that the DWI charge “is absolutely appropriate under the circumstances.”
“Ariel will have to endure the consequences of this crash for the rest of her life,” Porto said.
Contributing: Tom Schad
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