No jail time for ex-Rosemont paramedic who said Ambien made him drink and drive

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Thomas A. Gatz

Updated: January 18, 2012 7:25PM

A Will County judge gave a former Rosemont paramedic two years of conditional discharge Wednesday, two months after he argued a prescription sleep aid made him drink and drive.

Thomas A. Gatz, 44, of Shorewood has been fired from his job, his attorney told Judge Amy Bertani-Tomczak, and likely won’t ever work as a firefighter ever again.

Assistant State’s Attorney Anna Rossi agreed Gatz — who previously worked as a firefighter for River Forest — deserves not to go to jail, but she asked that he be forced to write apology letters to the people he hurt. Gatz’s drunken driving crash in July 2010 shattered an 18-year-old woman’s arm, prosecutors said.

Bertani-Tomczak told Gatz to perform 480 hours of community service. She also told Gatz to write the letters, an idea Gatz said he loved.

“I was supposed to be the one that was protecting that girl,” Gatz said. “I failed to do that. And it hurts.”

Gatz’s attorney said his client took two prescription Ambien pills the night of his crash and went to bed without drinking alcohol.

He woke up later in a hospital where he learned he drove his 2010 gray Honda Civic into a Pontiac driven by Gail Darm and a Toyota driven by Lauren Eklund in the 3000 block of West Jefferson Street in Joliet.

Eklund’s passenger, Valerie DeCamp, suffered multiple fractures in her arm and needed surgery, according to court records.

Gatz also discovered he was found wearing only his underwear and that alcohol was found in his blood. His blood alcohol content was between 0.103 and 0.107, according to court records. He had broken ribs, a collapsed lung and a concussion.