Hiawatha man charged with vehicular homicide remains in jail on $100,000 bond  

CEDAR RAPIDS - A Hiawatha man faces two vehicular homicide charges in the death of a city water department employee.

Lawson Sean Chadwick, 47, was formally charged Sunday with vehicular homicide while attempting to elude as a habitual offender and vehicular homicide by reckless driving as a habitual offender. Chadwick is being charged as a habitual offender because he has two felony convictions of second-degree theft in Black Hawk County and possession of controlled substances precursors in Linn County.

If convicted of both charges, Chadwick faces up to 30 years in prison.

A judge set Chadwick's bond Sunday for $100,000 cash only. He remains in the Linn County Jail as of Monday.

According to the criminal complaint, Chadwick led police officers on a high-speed chase Friday, April 17 after they attempted to pull over his pickup for a registration violation near 10th Street and Eighth Avenue SW. During the brief chase, Chadwick ran a stop sign at 16th Avenue and Ninth Street SW before crashing into a Cedar Rapids Water Division van driven by Stephen Justin Cook, 35, of Palo.

Cook, who was driving eastbound on 16th Avenue, was thrown from the van, which overturned during the collision. He died Saturday at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics from injuries caused by the crash, according to the complaint.

According to police, Chadwick was arrested last Monday on a warrant for second-degree theft.

Cook had been with the water division since 2008 and a volunteer firefighter for nearly 10 years, working the last four years in Palo. Cook's brother Chris Cook said Sunday he will always remember him as the big brother who loved the outdoors and settled arguments between him and his sister.