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Ex-Kansas City Chiefs assistant Britt Reid gets 3 years in prison for 2021 drunk driving incident
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- Ex-Kansas City Chiefs assistant Britt Reid gets 3 years in prison for 2021 drunk driving incident
A Missouri judge sentenced former Kansas City Chiefs assistant Britt Reid to three years in state prison Tuesday for a 2021 drunk driving incident that left a 5-year-old girl with severe brain injuries .
Reid, the son of Chiefs head coach Andy Reid, was speeding and intoxicated when his pickup truck hit two sedans that had pulled over on the side of a highway near the team's headquarters. Five people besides Reid were injured in the crash, including two children. Ariel Young, now 6, later spent more than a week in a coma .
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Reid pleaded guilty in September to a felony count of driving while intoxicated resulting in serious physical injury. Though the charge carries a maximum penalty of seven years in prison under Missouri law, prosecutors sought a four-year sentence. Reid's lawyers had asked the judge for probation. Ariel's family wanted the case to go to trial.
In a statement released through attorney Tom Porto, family members said they are "outraged" that Reid did not receive the maximum seven-year prison sentence.
"No amount of prison time will ever be enough to punish the Defendant for the pain and suffering he caused this family and the ongoing difficulties that Ariel will continue to endure for the rest of her life," the family said.
Reid was taken into custody after Judge Charles H. McKenzie handed down the sentence Tuesday. Reid's attorney, J.R. Hobbs, said his client respected the judge's decision.
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"He sincerely regrets and accepts responsibility for his conduct and hopes
and prays for (Ariel's) continued recovery," Hobbs said in a statement.
The crash took place a little after 9 p.m. local time on Feb. 4, 2021 – just a few days before the Chiefs lost to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Super Bowl 55 .
According to charging documents , Reid's truck was going almost 84 mph on Interstate 435 in Kansas City in the seconds before it struck the first of two sedans that had pulled over on the shoulder of the highway; one had run out of gas, and the other had come to assist. Reid told police he hadn't seen the first car because it didn't have any lights on.
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Reid, who suffered a serious groin injury in the crash, had a serum blood alcohol concentration of .113 roughly two hours later, according to police. The legal limit is .08.
The crash left Ariel, who was a passenger in one of the sedans, with life-threatening head injuries , including a skull fracture and brain contusions. She spent 11 days in a coma and more than two months in the hospital.
"She tried to relearn how to walk and talk and eat before we left the hospital. But she couldn't," Ariel's mother, Felicia Miller, said in a statement read in court on behalf of the victims. "She couldn't run in the yard anymore like the sweet, innocent Ariel we had known."
Ariel was also at the courthouse Tuesday, wearing a shirt that read "Ariel Strong." Miller told the court that, as a result of the crash, Ariel now drags her right foot when walking, wears thick glasses and takes more time to process information than her peers.
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"She will deal with the effects of (Reid's) actions every day for the rest of her life," Miller wrote in the impact statement. "We will deal with her."
The Chiefs announced late last year that they would pay for Ariel's ongoing medical treatment, but details of the agreement have not been made public.
Reid last worked as the Chiefs' outside linebackers coach during the 2020 season. He was placed on administrative leave following the crash and left the team following the expiration of his contract shortly thereafter.
Now 37, Reid had been cited for speeding or careless driving on at least three occasions prior to the 2021 incident. He also faced drug and firearm-related charges in 2007.
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Contributing: The Associated Press
Contact Tom Schad at tschad@usatoday.com or on Twitter @Tom_Schad .
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Britt Reid, ex-Chiefs assistant, gets prison in drunk driving case
