By Kate Ramunni
The Connecticut Post Online
ANSONIA, Conn. — It wasn’t alcohol but low blood sugar that led to his arrest last week on drunk driving charges, Oxford Ambulance Chief Jerry Schwab said Monday.
Schwab was pulled over about 1 a.m. Friday after he allegedly drove through a stop sign at Olsen Drive and Bridge Street. Officers suspected he was driving drunk, Schwab said, but a Breathalyzer test registered zero alcohol.
Urine tests also were administered but the results of those haven’t yet come back, police said, and Schwab failed sobriety tests done at the scene, which led to the arrest.
That’s because his blood sugar was so low he didn’t know even know where he was or how he got there, Schwab said.
“I vaguely remember bits and pieces,” he said. He remembers being at home and going to bed, he said, but doesn’t remember getting up and going out. “My blood sugar must have dropped after I went to sleep,” he said.
Hypoglycemia is when blood glucose levels drop below normal levels, according to the National Diabetes Information Clearinghouse, unlike diabetes, where blood glucose levels rise because the pancreas doesn’t produce enough or any insulin. While diabetes can be controlled through insulin injections, hypoglycemia can’t.
With those suffering from both diabetes and hypoglycemia, episodes of low blood sugar can mimic the behavior of someone who is intoxicated.
A friend picked him up at the police station after he was arrested and processed, Schwab said, and brought him to a gas station where he was able to buy some orange juice and a granola bar, which raised his blood sugar up and made him aware of his circumstances.
“It was an unfortunate set of circumstances,” he said, “and it is unfortunate that my medical condition will now be discussed publicly.” Schwab said he will, in the future, have to do more blood tests in order to assure that his glucose levels stay stable.
He’s confident the case against him will not hold up in court, he said, but he doesn’t fault police for making the arrest.
“The police officer was doing his job,” he said. “Thankfully they got me off the road before something happened to me or someone else.” But he wishes someone had called for medical attention, he said. If they had tested his blood glucose level, then it would have been clear what was causing his erratic behavior, he said.
Police department spokesman, Lt. Andrew Cota, could not be reached Monday for comment.
Schwab will have to appear in Derby Superior Court on July 17 to answer to the drunk driving charges.
“It all feels like a bad dream,” he said.
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