A Conway woman is charged with DWI and reckless driving after hitting six different cars in Conway on Friday. But a local attorney says she was "sleep driving" after a pharmacy gave her Ambien, the wrong medication.
Ambien is prescribed as a sedative, to help people fall asleep. After the Conway woman was given the wrong prescription, the pharmacy called the salon she worked at several times stating it was an emergency, and they had given her the wrong pills, but it was too late.
On her way to work, 32 year old Jennifer Spaeth picked up her migraine medication at Viiona Drug and Florist. Before stopping at Sonic Drive Thru, she took the recommended dose of what she thought was her normal prescription.
"It was the label of her medication, and Ambien was in the bottle," Attorney Andrew Ballard.
Attorney Andrew Ballard says the side effects kicked in by the time she was leaving Sonic.
"She began backing out of her parking space, struck a vehicle. She pulled forward and struck another vehicle," Lt. Dan Moody with the Conway Police Department said.
"I heard screeching tires and she hit the right side of the back of my car, spinning it right into the menu board, almost knocking it off," Sean Francis said, describing his car being hit.
Sean Francis was working at Sonic when his vehicle became the third victim. But instead of worrying about his car, he was more concerned as he saw Spaeth take off into traffic.
"I was just worried about everyone across the street, because I knew once she crossed the street, it became really dangerous then,” Francis said.
Spaeth crossed Highway 64 east traveling south, hitting another car in the outside lane of traffic, and then another in the inside lane, before ending up in a Shell parking lot where she hit, yet another vehicle.
"It ended up being a total of 6 vehicles her vehicle struck," Moody said.
Police knew something was up after the accident, they say she fell asleep five times when they were questioning her. She was arrested with charges of DWI and reckless driving. Spaeth doesn't remember anything from the time she took the pill, to when she was released from the hospital. But when she learned she had been given Ambien, the wrong medication, she went to an attorney. She hasn't filed any type of lawsuit just yet.
Police say Spaeth's son was in the car with her. He told police his mom was slurring and he was worried about her, so he got out of the car and begged her not to drive. Right now, Spaeth's blood samples have been sent to the state crime lab.
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Originally Posted by Dakota_Valkyrie
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