Ex-NFL Coach Allowed To Drive Again After Pleading Not Guilty For Crash That Critically Injured 5-Year-Old

A judge ruled that former Kansas City Chiefs assistant coach Britt Reid can drive as he awaits trial, disappointing the family of the 5-year-old girl seriously injured in a crash while he was allegedly driving impaired.

Reid pleaded not guilty to a driving while intoxicated charge during a bond review hearing on Monday, in connection with a February car crash that left Ariel Young, 5, with a critical brain injury. Following that plea, Jackson County Judge Jessica Agnelly ruled that Reid can drive with the condition that he use an ignition interlock device that can test his blood alcohol level, the Kansas City Star reports.

Reid initially had no driving condition added to his bond terms but Agnelly said Monday that it was “mistakenly” added, according to the City Star. Prosecutors were hoping that Reid would be banned from driving prior to his trial completely.

Young was injured in February after Reid crashed into two static vehicles near a Kansas City interstate entrance ramp. The Young family had pulled over to help a motorist in the first car, who appeared to have run out of gas. 

Tom Porto, the attorney for Young’s family, told ABC’s “Good Morning America” in March that the collision nearly killed the girl. She suffered a severe traumatic brain injury, as well as a parietal fracture and brain contusions.

“She likely has permanent brain damage that she will endure for the rest of her life,” Porto said. "She’s not walking — it’s a sad, sad, sad story.”

Porto told CNN this week that the girl’s relatives were “greatly disappointed” by the decision to allow Reid to drive.

“We wish the defendant would’ve had an ignition interlock device installed on his car Feb. 4, 2021, and maybe none of this would’ve ever happened,” he said. “It’s too late for that now, however.”

Reid allegedly admitted to police following the crash that he’d had multiple alcoholic drinks and that he was also taking a prescription for Adderall. He was charged in April.

After the incident, Reid was placed on administrative leave from his coaching duties. This isn’t the first time Reid has been in legal trouble. In 2007, he allegedly pointed a handgun at another driver during a dispute. The following year, he pleaded guilty to DUI and drug charges after he smashed into a shopping cart in a parking lot.

The next hearing will be a pretrial conference on July 22. A trial date has yet to be set.