SICILY ISLAND, La. – Police Chief Eddie Newman was in critical condition and awaiting a heart transplant Monday night at Oschner Foundation Hospital in New Orleans after he suffered a major heart attack Sunday at his Sicily Island home.

Newman, who had been complaining recently of pain in his neck and chest, reportedly drove himself to Riverland Medical Center in Ferriday – a distance of about 20 miles – on Sunday morning after the attack. He was transferred to St. Francis Cabrini Hospital in Alexandria later Sunday and transferred to Oschner Monday.

No further information on his condition was available from the hospital’s nursing staff as of Monday night.

&uot;We’ve called several times today to check on him, and as of now they’ve stabilized him,&uot; Mayor Derrick Frazier said.

&uot;About all we know now is that he needs a new heart,&uot; said Officer R.J. Punchard, the town’s only other police officer.

Newman has served as Sicily Island’s police chief since early October, when the town’s Board of Aldermen appointed him to the position. Newman replaced former chief Guy King who, according to town officials, resigned for personal reasons.

Previously, Newman served as Ferriday’s police chief from mid-1996 to July 2000, when new Mayor Glen McGlothin appointed current Police Chief Bobby Sheppard to the position.