Former Chiefs coach Britt Reid charged with DWI in crash that injured 5-year-old girl

Former Chiefs assistant coach Britt Reid was charged with driving while intoxicated, two months after a vehicular crash left a 5-year-old girl with a traumatic brain injury, Jackson County prosecutors announced.

On Monday, prosecutors charged Reid, 35, with driving while intoxicated resulting in serious physical injury in the Feb. 4 crash. It is a Class D felony, and if convicted Reid could be sentenced to up to seven years in prison.

Prosecutors say the former linebackers coach and son of head coach Andy Reid struck two cars on the side of an entrance ramp along Interstate 435, near the team’s practice facility. Reid told an initial responding officer that he had left work, according to the probable cause statement.

He was driving over 83 mph two seconds before his vehicle slammed into the other vehicles, according to prosecutors, who also allege Reid had a serum blood alcohol content of 0.113 roughly two hours after the crash. The legal limit is 0.08.

After the crash, Reid admitted to police that he had been drinking beforehand. A police officer noted that Reid’s eyes were “bloodshot and red,” according to court records.

Reid surrendered to Kansas City police Monday afternoon and was released after posting $100,000 bond.

“Mr. Reid voluntarily appeared before the court for his initial appearance and was released on conditions of bond,” said J.R. Hobbs, a criminal defense attorney who is representing Reid. “A status conference will be set in the future as is customary. And there’ll be no further comment at this time.”

As part of his bond release, Reid was ordered to not consume alcohol or visit any establishment where alcohol is the primary item sold. He must also report to the Northland Dependency Services within 24 hours for pre-trial supervision and was given a device that monitors where he has consumed alcohol.

The crash injured two young children, including 5-year-old Ariel Young, who suffered a traumatic brain injury. She was released from the hospital on April 2 and is being treated at home. Ariel is unable to talk or walk and is being fed through a feeding tube. She suffered a parietal fracture, brain contusions and subdural hematoma, according to prosecutors.

“The hope is that being in a familiar setting will trigger parts of her brain that have not woken up yet,” the family’s attorney, Tom Porto, said Monday. “Undoubtedly, her recovery process will continue for a long time, if not indefinitely. It’s heartbreaking and we are not sure what the future holds.”

The Chiefs released a statement Monday: “The Kansas City Chiefs organization remains steadfast in our concern for all who have been impacted by this tragic accident. 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.”

According to court records, Reid’s vehicle struck the Chevrolet Impala, which he said he did not see because its lights were off. Reid said he continued south on the interstate and then rear-ended the Chevy Traverse at 67.7 mph, court documents show. He dialed 911 moments later, according to court documents.

Reid told an initial responding officer that he “was looking over his left shoulder to evaluate traffic so he could merge,” according to the probable cause statement.

According to court documents, Ariel’s mother, Felicia Miller, had arrived to help her cousin whose Chevy Impala had run out of gas and stalled. Miller said she got back into the driver’s seat of her Traverse and looked in the rear view mirror when she saw the headlights of an approaching vehicle.

The impact of the rear end crash knocked Miller unconscious for a moment after the airbag struck her and broke her seat. When she woke, Miller called for her children. She located Ariel in the Traverse under the third seat that had folded over.

Ariel was unresponsive. An ambulance arrived and took the child to Children’s Mercy Hospital, according to prosecutors.

Miller’s sister, Angela Saenz, suffered facial cuts and a concussion and was treated at St. Luke’s Hospital, court records stated. Saenz said she did not remember much about the crash because she lost consciousness.

Porto had previously said they wanted prosecutors to consider “the most serious charges and the most serious sentence that Britt could ever receive.”

He said on Monday that the criminal charges were “absolutely appropriate under the circumstances. The prosecuting attorney and police department engaged in an extremely thorough investigation that ended with the appropriate charge.”

“I do not fault the time the investigation took at all. They reached the right conclusion,” Porto said.

Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker said in a press release Monday that Reid is not receiving any favorable treatment from Kansas City police nor her office. She said recent changes in Missouri’s DWI laws limit the number of charges that the prosecutor’s office could pursue, given the evidence in the case. Baker said her office will vigorously pursue these charges.

“This is a really tragic case and that there are multiple victims that have been injured, but Missouri law only allows me to charge the singular victim,” Baker told The Star on Monday. “So I chose the most profoundly injured person, which happens to be the little child. That doesn’t mean that we’re not going to seek justice for all of the victims that were injured.”

Baker complimented the work of the Kansas City police traffic unit that investigated the crash.

Kansas City police reported the crash occurred when a white Dodge Ram Laramie being driven by Reid slammed into one vehicle and then another.

A police officer said in the application for the search warrant that he could smell “a moderate odor of alcoholic beverages emanating from his person.” Reid allegedly admitted to the officer he had “2-3 drinks.”

At the scene, the officer conducted a field sobriety test. Reid was taken to Research Medical Center after complaining of stomach pain. He suffered a groin injury in the crash that required emergency surgery. Once he arrived at the hospital, investigators obtained a search warrant and collected four vials of blood to be tested for blood alcohol content and the presence of controlled substances.

Reid has a valid Kansas operator’s license and prior alcohol-related arrests in Pennsylvania and Arizona, according to prosecutors.

The crash happened in the week leading up the Super Bowl. Reid did not accompany the team to Tampa, Florida, where the Chiefs lost to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 31-9.

The team placed Reid on administrative leave following the crash. The team allowed his contract to expire without renewal, effectively ending his employment with the organization. Earlier this month, the Chiefs hired Ken Flajole as its outside linebackers coach, replacing Reid.

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

Reid joined the Chiefs’ coaching staff as a quality control coach in January 2013, when his father was hired as Kansas City’s head coach. Reid took over as an assistant linebackers coach in 2019.

In 2008, he pleaded guilty to driving under the influence of a controlled substance in the Philadelphia area.

The Star’s Herbie Teope contributed to this report.