Buccaneers’ Tom Brady and Chiefs’ Patrick Mahomes battle at Super Bowl LV

By Frances Mulraney for DailyMail.com

The five-year-old girl critically injured and left in a coma after a car crash involving Kansas City Chiefs’ assistant coach Britt Reid on Thursday night has been pictured for the first time, as she is named locally as Ariel. 

The young girl was in the back of a car that Reid allegedly crashed into after he had ‘two to three drinks’ on his prescription Adderall, according to KSHB. 

An unnamed four-year-old was also in the back seat of the car and was hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries. Britt was also hospitalized but his injuries have not been revealed. 

Britt, 35, did not accompany the Kansas City Chiefs and his father, head coach Andy Reid, as they touched down at the Super Bowl on Saturday afternoon, flying into town a day before they defend their title against the hometown Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

The team confirmed on Saturday that Britt was not making the trip to Tampa and that he was involved in a multi-vehicle pile-up in Missouri that resulted in the injury of two young children.

The crash happened on an entrance ramp one exit south of the Chiefs’ practice facility. 

Reid, who is reported to have previous DUI, drug and gun charges, is now being investigated to determine whether he was impaired at the time of the crash. 

Ariel’s family said that she has not woken up since the crash on Thursday night and suffered severe brain trauma

Ariel’s family has since started a GoFundMe page to raise funds for her medical expenses and to help her single mother as she misses work to stay but the young girl’s side.   

Kansas City Chiefs linebacker's coach Britt Reid has not traveled to the Super Bowl after being involved in a car crash in which a five-year-old girl was critically injured

Kansas City Chiefs linebacker’s coach Britt Reid has not traveled to the Super Bowl after being involved in a car crash in which a five-year-old girl was critically injured

The five-year-old has been named locally as Ariel and is said to have suffered brain trauma

Ariel, 5, was reported to be critically injured in the crash. A four-year-old was also injured

The Chiefs confirmed in a statement on Friday night that the crash involving Reid left a 5-year-old in critical condition at an area hospital and injured a 4-year-old child.

‘The organization has been made aware of a multi-vehicle accident involving Outside Linebackers Coach, Britt Reid,’ the statement read.

‘We are in the process of gathering information, and we will have no further comment at this time. Our thoughts and prayers are with everyone involved.’

The crash took place just after 9pm on Thursday night on Interstate 435 near Eastwood Trafficway, close to the Truman Sports Complex where the Chiefs were wrapping up final practices.

The police reported that a Chevrolet Impala had run out of gas and parked in the entrance ramp from Stadium Drive to I-435 as they called family to help.

When family arrived, they parked a Chevrolet Traverse in front of the stranded vehicle.

Reid told police that he was driving a white Dodge Ram Laramie Sport pickup truck that struck the left side of the Impala as the driver tried to get it up and running.

The driver had been in the car at the time Reid struck the vehicle but did not suffer any injuries.

The report states that Reid’s Ram than continued to strike the parked Traverse where two children were sitting in the backseat.

The Kansas City Police Department (KCDP) said in a statement that a 5-year-old child injured in the accident was in critical condition, and a 4-year-old suffered non-life-threatening injuries.

They were transported to hospital to be treated for their injuries. An adult was also sitting in the front of the second car but was not injured.

Ariel, 5, was reported to be critically injured in the crash. A four-year-old was also injured

The five-year-old has been named locally as Ariel and is said to have suffered brain trauma

The five-year-old has been named locally as a girl named Ariel, whose family said she has not woken up since the crash.

She is said to have suffered severe brain trauma and the family has set up a GoFundMe page to cover her medical expenses.

The GoFundMe, which was verified by the company to the Kansas City Star, has raised more tahn $71,000 as of Saturday night. 

‘She is still in very critical condition. Her mother is a single mom of 3, she will be in the hospital for the foreseeable future, this is set up for the hospital bills and weeks of missed work she will have, anything to help her family who is suffering so much right now because one man chose to drink and drive,’ wrote page creator Tiffany Verhulst who said she was a cousin of Ariel’s mother. 

‘No child deserves to go through this, nor should any mother have to see her child like this.’

According to the warrant, officers could smell ‘a moderate odor of alcoholic beverages’ from Reid when they arrived at the scene and noted that his eyes were blood shot.

Reid told officers that he had two to three drinks and informed them of his Adderall prescription.

The warrant also states that an officer noted signs of impairment in Reid.

The assistant coach was taken to the hospital after the crash after complaining of stomach pains but his injuries are described as non-life-threatening.

Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid arrives with his team for the Super Bowl on Saturday

Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid arrives with his team for the Super Bowl on Saturday

This not the first time Reid has had trouble with the law over potential drinking and driving.

In 2007, then aged 22, Reid was sentenced to eight to 23 months in jail, plus five years’ probation, on gun and drug charges.

It came after he pointed a handgun at another driver following a dispute, according to ESPN.

Reid pleaded guilty to carrying an unlicensed firearm, simple assault, possession of a controlled substance and possession of an instrument of crime in connection with the incident.

According to KSHB, Reid had been arrested again seven months later and charged with DUI: controlled substance, possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia.

His bail was revoked from the first arrest and he again pleaded guilty, receiving a sentence of one to six months in February 2008.

Pennsylvania court records show that he was fined more than $10,000 for the two incidents and ordered to complete Drug Court, which he did in July 2012.

ESPN reported that as Britt and his brother Garret Reid were sentenced following the first arrest in 2007, a judge likened their father’s home to a ‘drug emporium’ as he questioned whether the adult sons should live there.

At the time, Garrett, who was described as a drug addict and dealer, was sentenced after crashing into another car while high on heroin. 

The publication claimed that the brothers ‘overmedicated throughout much of their lives’ and that Britt became hooked on painkillers after suffering a football injury in high school.

‘It sounds more or less like a drug emporium there, with the drugs all over the house, and you’re an addict,’ Judge O’Neill told Britt.

A ground crew member waves a Tampa Bay Buccaneers flag as the Kansas City Chiefs arrive in Tampa

A ground crew member waves a Tampa Bay Buccaneers flag as the Kansas City Chiefs arrive in Tampa

Britt Reid told officers he had been drinking before the crash and take Adderall

Britt Reid told officers he had been drinking before the crash and take Adderall

The Chiefs said on Saturday they were still in the information-gathering process and had no further comment on Thursday’s crash.

Britt Reid has been with the team since his father was hired by the franchise in 2013.

He initially worked as a defensive quality control coach before he was promoted to assistant defensive line coach in 2015.

He served as defensive line coach between 2016 and 2018 before moving to outside linebacker’s coach.

Reid is a Temple University graduate who served as a training camp intern for the Philadelphia Eagles on his father’s staff in 2009.

He has received two tickets for speeding while working with the Chiefs – first in 2014 and again in 2018.

Charges have not been filed following the crash but if they are, it will come long after the Superbowl.

‘Most criminal investigations take weeks to investigate. This is no different,’ said KCDP media unit spokesperson Captain Dave Jackson in a statement.

‘Prosecutors typically would like a completed case file in order to file charges or decline, depending on what the evidence would indicate.

‘In cases like this that may include toxicology, crash reconstruction, witness statements and a variety of other related pieces.’ 

The accident did not appear to be a distraction for the Chiefs, with a pool report indicating players appeared in good spirits during the morning walk-through session.

‘Good energy,’ Andy Reid said. ‘It’s important to have that.

‘This was just kind of a review day, so we go back through all the situations and make sure we have all those covered.’

United Airlines crew members pose for a photo at the door of the plane with a flag that reads 'Bring It Back,' after delivering the Kansas City Chiefs to Tampa International Airport for the Super Bowl on Sunday

United Airlines crew members pose for a photo at the door of the plane with a flag that reads ‘Bring It Back,’ after delivering the Kansas City Chiefs to Tampa International Airport for the Super Bowl on Sunday

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Chiefs opted to spend Super Bowl week at home and fly to Tampa only the day before the NFL championship game.

Because of the coronavirus pandemic, the NFL had teams delay traveling into the host city until Friday at the earliest as a safety and health precaution measure.

The Chiefs instead chose to come on Saturday, repeating their itinerary from earlier in the season when they beat Tom Brady and the Bucs 27-24 on November 29.  

‘Saturday night is just looking for ways to sleep, honestly, because there´s a lot of excitement, a lot of energy that you build up to throughout the weekend,’ Chiefs defensive end Tanoh Kpassagnon said earlier in the week. 

‘The key is just letting it out on the road at the right time on Sunday.’

Teams playing in the Super Bowl usually arrive as much as a week before the game to practice, hold meetings and participate in media availabilities in or near the host city. 

Both teams did that at their home facilities this year, fulfilling all media responsibilities through video calls during the week, instead of the usual in-person sessions jam-packed with reporters.

The Chiefs took two planes – to maintain proper social distancing protocols – with most of the coaches and players on the first that landed at Tampa International Airport around 4:38 p.m. – less than just 26 hours before kickoff.

The team then filed into 10 buses – two waves of five each – both with police escorts, which carried the coaches, players, and staff for the 7-mile trip to their hotel in downtown Tampa.

They were greeted around 5:23 p.m. by a few hundred cheering fans – several with masks but many without and many decked out in Chiefs jerseys and T-shirts, some in Bucs gear – gathered on the four corners closest to the main entrance of the hotel, which featured several red and gold window wraps around the entrances.   

Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes arrives in Tampa on Saturday ahead of the Superbowl

Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes arrives in Tampa on Saturday ahead of the Superbowl