Search warrant indicates Hiawatha man charged in vehicular homicide may have been impaired 

CEDAR RAPIDS - A Hiawatha man charged with vehicular homicide in the death of a city water employee may have been under the influence of drugs, according to a search warrant application filed this week in Linn County District Court. 

Lawson Sean Chadwick, 47, had 'red, bloodshot, watery eyes” and was agitated and unable to stay still while at the hospital being treated for injuries to his chest and a dislocated shoulder, Cedar Rapids Police Officer Timothy Tefft said in the application for the warrant obtained last Friday. Tefft also overheard Chadwick tell an emergency room nurse that he had used heroin the night before.

Chadwick 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 has two previous felony convictions of second-degree theft in Black Hawk County and possession of controlled substances precursors in Linn County.

Chadwick also was arrested April 13, on a warrant for second-degree theft, police said.

According to the criminal complaint, Chadwick led police officers on a high-speed chase after they attempted to pull over his pickup for a registration violation about 8:39 a.m. last Friday, 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 ejected from the van, which overturned during the collision. According to the search warrant, Cook had severe head injuries from the crash and he died from those injuries Saturday at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics.

His funeral mass was Wednesday at St. Patrick's Catholic Church in Ryan, according to an obituary.

Tefft said Chadwick's eyes indicated impairment and he wouldn't make eye contact with the officer when he spoke, according to warrant. He asked Chadwick to perform a field sobriety test but Chadwick refused. Chadwick did submit to a breathalyzer test which registered .000. Tefft said based on his observations, Chadwick was under the influence of a substance other than alcohol.

Tefft asked Chadwick for a urine sample at 11:08 a.m. Friday but Chadwick again refused, according to the warrant. Tefft later got authorization from a magistrate for the collection of a urine sample, using a catheter, because there was a death in the crash.

No information in the warrant application on the results of the test.

Assistant County Attorney Nic Scott said Wednesday afternoon he hasn't received any tests results at this time. 

Chadwick remains in the Linn County Jail under a $100,000 cash only bond. If convicted of both charges, Chadwick faces up to 30 years in prison.