Pubdate: Fri, 02 Feb 2007
Source: Philadelphia Inquirer, The (PA)
Copyright: 2007 Philadelphia Newspapers Inc
Contact:  http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/340
Author: Mari A. Schaefer and Larry King
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/heroin.htm (Heroin)

REID SON ADMITS TAKING HEROIN

The eldest son of Eagles coach Andy Reid admitted using heroin before 
causing a traffic accident this week in Montgomery County, court 
documents show.

Garrett Reid, 23, "acknowledged using heroin... on Tuesday," 
according to a search-warrant affidavit released yesterday. He made 
the admission in a written statement he gave police after the accident.

"Reid also acknowledged possessing drug paraphernalia including 
hypodermic syringes," the affidavit said.

Police obtained search warrants that led them to a handgun, 
ammunition, suspected drugs and other items in two vehicles owned by 
the Eagles head coach. A second gun and more ammunition were found in 
the Reids' Villanova house.

While Andy Reid is not suspected of wrongdoing, two of his sons, 
Garrett and Britt, 21, await the results of lab tests that could 
deepen their legal trouble.

Also under scrutiny is the ownership of the guns found in the Reid 
house, and whether Britt Reid illegally wielded one during an alleged 
road-rage incident Tuesday morning in West Conshohocken.

Andy Reid and his wife, Tammy, have said nothing publicly about their 
sons' cases. The couple cut short a California vacation on Wednesday.

The family is "fully cooperating with law-enforcement officials... 
and will continue to do so," the sons' attorney, William J. Winning, 
said in a written statement yesterday. "Until these matters are 
resolved, however, neither the Reid family or I will have any further 
comment and we ask that the privacy of the Reid family be respected."

Garrett Reid, whose speeding SUV allegedly ran a red light in 
Plymouth Township and injured a woman when it crashed into her car, 
is awaiting the results of drug and alcohol tests. Also being 
examined are white powder, syringes and other drug paraphernalia - 
including a set of scales - found in Reid's pockets or inside his vehicle.

The fate of Britt Reid, accused of waving a handgun at another 
motorist earlier the same day in West Conshohocken, also hinges in 
part on lab tests of suspected drugs. Officers who searched the black 
SUV he was driving found plastic bags with white residue; containers 
holding white powder and a green, leafy substance; and four small, 
white pills - as well as a handgun and ammunition, according to court 
documents.

Still another focus is the gun believed to have been in Britt Reid's 
vehicle, along with a second handgun found in the Reids' house late 
Tuesday. It has not been disclosed who owns the weapons, or whether 
Britt Reid was licensed to carry one in his vehicle.

Trooper Lynette Quinn, a Pennsylvania State Police spokeswoman, said 
state law prohibits her from identifying whether a person is a 
registered owner of a firearm, or holds a permit to carry that weapon.

Risa V. Ferman, Montgomery County first assistant district attorney, 
refused to comment on the investigation.

"When we complete the investigation and have an opportunity to review 
evidence the police have found, that is when we will be speaking 
publicly," she said.

Garrett and Britt Reid are the eldest of Andy and Tammy Reid's five 
children, and have been living at home.

Until now, the former Harriton High School football players have had 
a long history of driving misadventures and minor arrests.

Court records show that Garrett Reid has at least four speeding 
convictions and two other traffic violations in this area since 2001. 
He also pleaded guilty in 2004 to shoplifting $61.95 of merchandise 
from a Sam Goody music store in Ardmore.

Britt Reid has at least one speeding conviction. By his own 
admission, he has been involved in three crashes since 2002, one of 
which resulted in an ongoing lawsuit in Montgomery County Court.

The injured driver in that case, Murray Nathanson of Wynnewood, has 
accused Britt Reid of speeding and recklessly colliding with his 
vehicle on Lancaster Avenue in Ardmore while driving an Eagles-leased 
GMC Yukon SUV in January 2002.

According to police records, Tuesday's investigations began at 9:16 
a.m., when an unidentified driver reported being threatened by 
another motorist with a gun at Front Street and Moorhead Avenue in 
West Conshohocken.

The suspect, now believed to be Britt Reid, was driving a black SUV, 
the other motorist said. The argument was over who was in the proper 
lane, he reported, and at one point the SUV driver got out and walked 
toward his vehicle before retreating.

"The white male then sat down in the driver's seat and he proceeded 
to reach behind the front passenger's seat and pull out a 
platinum-colored handgun," a police affidavit said. "The white male 
then pointed the handgun directly at the victim and smiled" before 
heading south on Matsonford Road toward the Blue Route.

The other driver took down the SUV's license number, which was 
registered to Andy and Tammy Reid.

Six hours later, a Jeep Liberty driven by Garrett Reid was clocked by 
an East Norriton police officer at 54 m.p.h. in a 35 m.p.h. zone. 
Officer Anthony Caso reported seeing the SUV swerve between lanes and 
attempted to follow it, an affidavit says.

At Germantown Pike and Arch Road, the SUV ran a red light and struck 
a Ford sedan. The driver, Louise Hartman, 55, of Mount Carmel, Pa., 
was treated at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and 
released Tuesday night.

Reid told police that "he was reaching over to grab something that 
fell" when the accident happened.

In Reid's vehicle, the affidavit said, police saw "a triple beam 
scale commonly used in drug trafficking," ammunition and a pellet gun.

Officers patted Reid down and found a knife, two uncapped used 
hypodermic syringes, cotton balls, adhesive tape, prep swabs, a spoon 
and scissors.

Reid "did not follow simple directions," the affidavit said. He 
"appeared to be very calm and could not understand what was told to him."
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