7th Gen Nano suddenly disconnects Bluetooth then reconnects playing at half speed or slower

Unit was purchased new a couple months ago. Loaded about half full with music and podcasts. Player is used with Bluetooth streaming to a 2011 Prius with an OEM JBL premium audio system. Twice now when playing music in shuffle mode (Music, Songs, Shuffle) the player will suddenly stop, Prius multi-functional display screen will indicate Bluetooth player has disconnected, then after 10-15 seconds it will start playing again only very slowly. Like a 45 rpm record switched to 33 1/3. It will continue to play like this until reset (hold sleep/wake and home button 6 seconds). I have not tried the 5th R yet, Restore. I also have searched the forum and apparently no one else has had this problem.