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." - --- MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman