Kansas City Chiefs assistant coach on leave after crash that critically injured child
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (NewsNation Now) — Kansas City Chiefs linebackers coach and son of head coach Andy Reid is on administrative leave from the NFL team following a DUI investigation where a 5 year old suffered life-threatening injuries.
Britt Reid was involved in a three-vehicle crash just days before the Super Bowl. He didn’t travel with the team to Tampa.
Outside Linebackers Coach Britt Reid has been placed on administrative leave following last Thursday’s multi-vehicle accident. We remain in the process of gathering information on the incident, and we will continue to assist local authorities as requested.
Our focus remains on Ariel Young and her family. We have reached out to the family to offer our support and resources to them during this difficult time, and we will continue to pray for her recovery.
Kansas City Chiefs Statement
While there are no names in a crash report, NewsNation affiliate WDAF obtained court documents that match the details of the crash that say Britt Reid told officers he was driving the pickup truck involved in the incident, one noting that his eyes were bloodshot, and he had a moderate odor of alcohol. Britt Reid told the officer he had between two and three drinks and was on a prescription for Adderall.
The officer conducted an initial and full sobriety test and saw four clues of impairment. Officers requested and received a search warrant to draw Britt Reid’s blood.
Police say a driver in a Chevrolet Impala on the southbound ramp from Stadium Drive ran out of gas and called family for help; a crash report says their hazard lights were initially flashing, but the car’s battery was dying.
Family arrived in a Chevrolet Traverse SUV and parked south of them with their lights on.
The crash report says a driver in a white Dodge Ram Laramie pickup truck was traveling south on the ramp to get to I-435 when they struck the Impala and then hit the Traverse from behind.
The Impala driver was inside the car and not hurt, and two adults were in the front seats of the Traverse and not hurt. Two kids in the backseat of the Traverse were hospitalized; a 4 year old has non-life-threatening injuries and the 5 year old was critically hurt.
New records from Tuesday show Kansas City police are also going through Britt Reid’s cell phone.
In a search warrant, investigators indicate 5-year-old Ariel Young’s mother was frantic following the crash and couldn’t find her phone. She pleaded with Reid to call 911. Detectives want to find out if Reid was on the phone at all in the moments before or during impact. “It is our duty and our responsibility to present a clean case file to the prosecutor, and we want justice for this little girl and we want the criminal justice system to work properly,” KCPD Capt. David Jackson said.
The family of that 5 year old has set up a GoFundMe page. It has far surpassed the original goal of $45,000, exceeding a quarter of a million dollars on Sunday night. As of Tuesday evening, nearly $420,000 was raised.
According to the GoFundMe page, the 5-year-old girl was with her mother who was helping a relative who had run out of gas.
More information from the GoFundMe page revealed that her mother is a single mother of three and the money raised will go to her hospital bills. The little girl was still not awake as of Tuesday, according to a post on the page from her mother.
Britt’s father, the head coach of the team, commented on the incident on Monday.
“My heart goes out to all those that were involved in the accident, in particular the family with the little girl who’s fighting for her life,” Reid said.
The elder Reid said it’s a difficult situation, and he can’t really comment on it beyond that.
NewsNation affiliate WDAF-TV contributed to this report.