Lawson Chadwick will plead guilty in 2015 death of city water employee

A Cedar Rapids man, charged in the 2015 crash that killed city employee Stephen J. Cook, will plead guilty May 23, the day his trial was set to start in Linn County District Court.

On Thursday Assistant Linn County Attorney Nic Scott said Lawson Chadwick, 47, will make a plea but wouldn't give details of the plea agreement. Scott has discussed the plea with Cook's family, he said.

Scott and Chadwick's lawyers, Todd Weimer and Doug Davis, talked with a judge in chambers, not in open court, about the plea hearing set for 8:45 a.m. May 23.

Chadwick is charged with homicide by vehicle while under the influence of methamphetamine and amphetamine as a habitual offender, homicide by vehicle while attempting to elude as a habitual offender and homicide by vehicle by reckless driving as a habitual offender.

He is also charged with first-degree theft as a habitual offender. Chadwick is accused of having stolen equipment, which was found in his truck at the time of the fatal crash. The property was valued at over $10,000.

If he pleads to all charges, Chadwick faces up to 40 years in prison. The homicide by vehicle while attempting to elude and by reckless driving charges would merge with the other charge for a maximum sentence of 25 years. If he also pleads to the theft charge, it is a 15-year sentence.

Chadwick led police on a short high-speed chase and then crashed into the van driven by Cook, a city Water Division worker, at the intersection of 16th Avenue and Ninth Street SW after Chadwick ran the stop sign on April 17, 2015. Cook was thrown from the van and died the next day at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics.

Chadwick remains free on bail since January when he posted $110,000 on the vehicular homicide charges and $20,000 on the theft charge. Chadwick was out on bail for a separate drug charge when he crashed into Cook's van, according to court records.

The estate of Cook reached a tentative $100,000 wrongful death settlement with Chadwick, which the city approved in April.

Chadwick's insurance company will pay the $100,000 to Cook's estate but under the Iowa Workers' Compensation law, the city could be compensated out of any settlement, so the city had to sign off on it, according to city documents.

Cedar Rapids also is paying workers' compensation benefits.