Garrett Reid, 23, has been charged

Prosecutors charged a second son of Eagles coach Andy Reid with misdemeanor drug violations yesterday, just days after the coach took a leave of absence from the team to deal with his sons' troubles.

Garrett Reid, 23, of Villanova, was charged with 14 misdemeanor offenses stemming from the Jan. 30 car crash that left a woman injured. The charges included assault, drug possession and driving under the influence of a controlled substance.

Authorities found syringes with heroin and testosterone in Garrett Reid's Jeep, and he acknowledged that he had used heroin that day, according to police. He is scheduled to surrender to authorities in Plymouth Township this morning.

Also yesterday, authorities said that 21-year-old Britt Reid would waive a preliminary hearing scheduled for today over an alleged gun-pointing road rage episode the same day as his brother's car accident.

Britt Reid faces a felony charge of carrying a firearm without a license as well as misdemeanor charges of lying to authorities, simple assault, making terroristic threats, and possessing a controlled substance. Lawyer William Winning, who represents both brothers, could not be reached for comment yesterday.

Garrett Reid is charged with simple assault, reckless endangerment, possessing controlled substance (including heroin, amphetamines and steroids), possessing drug paraphernalia, and driving under the influence of alcohol or a controlled substance, in addition to traffic offenses.

The charges against Garrett Reid stem from the afternoon of Jan. 30, when police say an East Norriton Township officer, Anthony Caso, spotted a black SUV speeding down Germantown Pike and switching lanes without signaling.

Caso pursued the SUV but lost sight of it before it crossed Arch Road at 67 m.p.h. and crashed into a vehicle driven by Louise Hartman, of Mount Carmel, police say. Hartman was injured; Garrett Reid was the SUV's driver, prosecutors say.

The heroin and amphetamines in his system after the crash were sufficient to cause impairment, investigators have found.

Reid was carrying a syringe containing testosterone, a steroid, and he admitted to police that he had previously used steroids, authorities said. Another syringe contained heroin, according to police documents.

Reid is scheduled to surrender at 8:30 a.m. at Plymouth Township police headquarters. Because Conshohocken District Court is being renovated, he will be arraigned by video hookup before Magisterial District Court Judge John S. Murray 3d.

According to police documents, witness Bruce Bryant and his passenger, Tara Carcarey, were stopped at a red light in the left-turn lane of Germantown Pike and Arch when Bryant saw the speeding Reid's SUV in his rear-view mirror. The SUV swerved left, then right, then passed them so quickly that it caused Bryant's car to shake.

The two witnesses watched as Reid's vehicle smashed into Hartman's 1997 Ford Taurus. Reid told police that, just before impact, he had reached over to grab something that had fallen.

Hartman, 55, was taken to a hospital, treated for injuries including a head laceration, and released.

A triple-beam scale, an ammunition container, and a pellet gun were visible inside Reid's SUV, police said. They said a pat-down search of Reid turned up drug paraphernalia, including two uncapped syringes, cotton balls, alcohol swabs, and a spoon and knife.

Police said Reid seemed calm but confused and did not follow simple directions. He agreed to a blood test.A search of Reid's SUV found 22 capsules later identified as acetaminophen, amphetamines, and the depression medication escitalopram, according to court documents.

In the separate episode the same day, police say Britt Reid pointed a gun at another driver, Larry Johnson, 36, of Delaware County, after the two exchanged words at a light on Matson Ford Road in West Conshohocken.

Last week, Britt Reid was charged with carrying a gun without a license, drug possession, making terroristic threats, making a false report to authorities, and other offenses. He was released after posting 10 percent of $100,000 bail. The state attorney general's office will prosecute the cases of both sons.