The family attorney for a 5-year-old girl involved in a devastating three-car crash last month is speaking out for the first time.
In an exclusive interview with “Good Morning America,” Tom Porto, the family attorney of the Young family -- whose daughter, Ariel, 5, was injured after former Kansas City Chiefs assistant coach Britt Reid struck their vehicle -- is describing the severity of the wreck that nearly killed the five-year-old girl.
Ariel is still fighting for her life in a Kansas City, Missouri, hospital with a brain injury and unable to speak, according to Porto.
“This wasn’t a fender bender,” Porto told “Good Morning America.” “This was a serious life-altering event.”
Early last month, Reid -- who is also the son of Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid -- hit a car belonging to Ariel’s family. Her mom, aunt and 4-year-old cousin had pulled over to the side of a highway to help a 19-year-old family member whose car had run out of gas. According to police, Reid was driving at highway speeds when his pickup truck struck the first car.
Ariel, who was in the second car, suffered life-threatening injuries, while her 4-year-old cousin, who was also in the car, suffered non-life-threatening injuries. Both were transported to the hospital. The driver of the car Reid hit first and the two adults in the second car sustained non-life-threatening injuries.
“She’s awake, which is a huge development,” Porto said of Ariel. “She likely has permanent brain damage that she will endure for the rest of her life. She’s not walking -- it’s a sad, sad, sad story.”
In exclusive photos obtained by ABC News, Reid’s truck was totaled and the two cars that police say he ran into -- including Ariel’s backseat, in which she was sitting in the second row of her vehicle – was flattened and unrecognizable.
“When you look at those pictures, you wonder how anybody made it out of that car alive,” Porto said.
According to a search warrant application obtained by ABC News, an officer on-scene reported smelling “a moderate odor of alcoholic beverages emanating from [Reid].” Reid told the officer he’d had “2-3 drinks” and was on the prescription drug “Adderall.”
He was injured in the wreck and taken to the hospital with undisclosed injuries and did not join the Chiefs in Tampa for the Super Bowl.
The investigation is ongoing and no charges have yet been filed in the case.
“We’re going to be advocating for the most serious charges and the most serious sentence that Britt could ever receive,” Porto said. “We don’t have the toxicology back, I don’t know what it is going to be. What I do know are the statements that he made to police that night. If you have two or three drinks, and then you get behind the wheel of a car, you are likely over the legal limit.” [Reply]
Originally Posted by Deberg_1990:
That’s got to be a horrible burden for a parent to bear. Knowing you raised a child who makes horrible life decisions.....
To be fair, Andy probably didn't do a whole lot of raising. His job would guarantee that he was gone a majority of the time aside from a couple of months of the year. [Reply]
Originally Posted by BleedingRed:
Having lost a friend who had just blown a tire on a freeway and was just walking down the exit ramp what detox said hit me.
Highways are full of danger people really dont think about.
Yep. In my area it’s extremely risky and dangerous. Unfortunately I see stories in the news all the time about cops or people getting hit along the side of major freeways. [Reply]
Originally Posted by BleedingRed:
Having lost a friend who had just blown a tire on a freeway and was just walking down the exit ramp what detox said hit me.
Highways are full of danger people really dont think about.
Saddest story I ever heard was back in California. Hwy 12 is a fucking death trap and known for accidents and all kinds of shit. Dad was driving his truck with some gear in the bed. He noticed something was moving around so he pulled off on the side of the road and got out to tie it down. He was in the bed when he tripped and fell out. Got instantly run over and his kids were in the truck watching the entire thing. [Reply]
It's a sad day learning that she is awake but is so badly injured that she lacks motor functions. I didn't hear anything about her ability to speak which was mentioned somewhere that she lacked.
I would guess that Britt Reid knows by now if he was over .08 from hospital lab work that is not admissible in court. I'd hate to have this burden of disabling, or worse, a little girl riding on my shoulders. The DUI charge that will be filed is definitely going to be a felony if the charge sticks. If the children were unrestrained then a felony charge probably won't stick IMHO.
Originally Posted by :
In Missouri, driving while intoxicated (DWI) is illegal, and Missouri's DWI law states that a person commits the crime of driving while intoxicated if they operate a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol, illegal drugs, and/or medication - regardless of his or her blood alcohol concentration (BAC) level.
I'd like to see some hi res pictures of the wrecked cars. Anyone found them?
The antenna on the top of the Traverse is as I recall about a foot in from the top of the rear hatch. In the picture it looks like it's in the front. Is it on the rear on all years?
The picture shows the driver's seat laid back but not the rear seat, it is still upright and there is no sign of child seats. It will be interesting to find out what gear the SUV was in, if flashers were activated, children unrestrained and any other magic that can be extracted from cell phone or CPU satellite data
It appears that ABC has a large array of photos (or whoever they bought them from) but only published the most condemning and made them small, low res. images.
From the pictures, a buzzed, if not DUI Reid was probably driving down an entrance ramp he had driven a thousand times (with no posted speed limits) at 55-60 or more. An SUV was stopped on the highway and He failed to stop in time to avoid a collision, seriously injuring 2 children who apparently were not in children's safety seats.
It appears that the drivers and passenger's seat were occupied as both seats were broken. It appears that the Traverse had just arrived as all parties were still in their respective cars.
Looking at the dented (steel) wheel on the Impala, and no white paint to be found, yet a black mark on the fender, front end missing, and the tire rolled under the way it is just does not look right. Dragging it onto a flat bed could be the reason for the tires appearance but the wheels impact point looks like the front wheel on the truck hit it but there are no pictures.
If you go down the entrance ramp there are several areas where it is 2 lanes and others that are one lane. There is a possibility that the traverse was parked in the road and not on the side of the road. Has there been anyone who said they passed both the vehicles or even saw both cars on the ramp that night? You should drive the exit ramp on Google Maps so you can see what I mean. https://www.google.com/maps/@39.0560...7i13312!8i6656
This is going to get interesting but when Attorneys start doing live exclusive guest appearances on national TV, you know there's something funky smelling being thrown at your face. I personally am thinking the attorney is shamelessly self promoting himself but that's just me. [Reply]
Originally Posted by loochy:
To be fair, Andy probably didn't do a whole lot of raising. His job would guarantee that he was gone a majority of the time aside from a couple of months of the year.
He lived in a big ass white house in Philly and now owns a monster house on the Plaza. He probably traveled some when raising kids (at least 8-10 times a year in a playoff year. Andy probably chose to work more than he should.
So you’re assuming they weren’t in child seats at ALL from the tiny Yahoo photo, Cooper?
Big assumption. We can’t even see the backseat, really, and we have no way of knowing what they did to get them out of the seats. Cutting the seats out/removing them during the course of extricating the kids from a horrendous accident wouldn’t be surprising. [Reply]
Yep. Who hired Britt Reid? Clark Hunt? Or Andy Reid? Drinking on the job maybe? Or did BR have a few drinks waiting for himself in his parked car after work? It doesn't look good anyway you spin it. BR admitted he had 2-3 drinks. A Uber or Lyft or Zip or a old school TAXI could have prevented this. No excuse these days. [Reply]
