Three motorcyclists died on a Tama County highway Saturday morning when a van crossed the center line and mowed ’em down. The three victims were 53-year-old Arlen Pickering of Story City, 57-year-old Ross Holland of Boone and 51-year-old Douglas Sampson of Ames. Three other motorcyclists, all from Ames, were injured. 47-year-old Gary Butler of Des Moines was driving the van, and he was injured, too. The six motorcycles were eastbound on Highway 30; the van was westbound and investigators don’t know why Butler crossed the center line and struck the cycles one-by-one. Iowa Highway Patrol spokesman Lieutenant Dave Garrison says the van driver has -not- been charged. He says troopers are still at the scene gathering information and then will talk with the county attorney before deciding to file any charges.Garrison says it’s not clear if the van driver had some sort of medical condition that caused him to lose control of his vehicle.Two of the motorcyclists are in critical condition. The one cyclist of the six who was wearing a helmet is the one who received only minor injuries and did not require an overnight hospital stay.
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