Man: Sleep aid made me drink, drive and hit cars
By Jon Seidel - Chicago Sun-Times
A Shorewood man wants a Will County judge to clear
him of a drunken driving charge because he said he became “involuntarily
intoxicated” after taking a prescription dose of the sleep aid Ambien
last year.
Thomas A. Gatz, 43, was found wearing only his
underwear July 27, 2010, after he drove his car eastbound in the
westbound lanes of West Jefferson Street in Joliet and caused a crash
that shattered an 18-year-old woman’s arm, court records said.
His attorney is pointing to a doctor’s expert testimony that Ambien can cause sleep-walking, eating and driving.
