Slidell man involved in Aug. 29 fatal accident on Gause charged

By Erik Sanzenbach
St. Tammany News
Published on Monday, September 8, 2008 10:17 AM CDT

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A Slidell man involved in a fatal traffic accident Aug. 29 has been charged with vehicular homicide, according to Slidell police.

Patrick W. Drawdy, 20, 210 Chaucer St., allegedly ran a red light at the Interstate 10 off ramp on Gause Boulevard at 3:30 a.m. and smashed into a car going through a green light, killing Lowell T. Chatwin, 68, of Slidell.

Slidell police spokesman Capt. Kevin Foltz said after investigators got the results of a toxicology test done on Drawdy, he was arrested at 4:16 p.m. Aug. 29. Besides the vehicular homicide charge, Drawdy was also charged with second offense DWI, driving under suspension, reckless operation of a motor vehicle and disregarding a red light.

Foltz said investigators reported that Drawdy was traveling at a high rate of speed when he ran the red light and ran into Chatwin’s car. The impact of the collision was such that Chatwin’s car was flipped over, and when police arrived, Chatwin’s car was lying on its roof. Chatwin had to be pried out from the car. He was taken to Northshore Regional Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead at 4:14 a.m. Drawdy suffered minor injuries and was treated and released from Slidell Memorial Hospital.

The accident forced police to shut down Gause Boulevard in both directions for four hours.

Drawdy was taken to St. Tammany Parish Jail, where he remains under a $102,500 bond.

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