A truck driver who was arrested after he was reported driving recklessly says that he was forced by his supervisor to drive on sleeping medication.
The incident happened on Wednesday, August 28, in Exeter Township, Pennsylvania.
Exeter Police say that they received multiple calls about a tractor trailer “swerving and narrowly missing vehicles as it headed north into the county.” Callers said that the truck driver appeared to be falling asleep.
Police pulled the truck over on Route 422 and Lorane Road.
During the traffic stop, police said that the 39 year old Maryland-based truck driver, Brock B. Claggett, seemed to be having trouble pulling off onto the shoulder. When he spoke with the officer, his speech was reportedly slurred and he even dozed off while talking to police.
Claggett told police that he had taken 1 1/5 Ambien sleeping pills about three hours earlier in Baltimore, Maryland, because he had trouble sleeping. He also told police that he had informed his dispatcher that he had taken the medication but that the dispatcher insisted that he deliver his load to a location in Pottstown, Pennsylvania immediately.
Police say that Claggett fell asleep multiple times during a field sobriety test. After failing the field sobriety test, local news outlet The Mercury reports that Claggett was transported to a nearby hospital where he refused a blood draw.
Claggett was charged with driving under the influence of drugs, police say.
Exeter Township Police said, “A possible tragedy was avoided. So many families travel on Route 422, today it’s a little bit safer. Well done officers.”