Three scouts and one adult killed in Wisconsin crime crash

LAKE HALLIE, Wisconsin – A pickup truck hit a road in western Wisconsin on Saturday and hit a group of scouts picking up trash in a ditch, leaving three girls and one adult dead and seriously injuring a fourth girl the police said.

Sgt. Daniel Sokup of the Lake Hallie Police Department said the driver of the black Ford F-150 van had run away, but had made it back later. He identified the driver as Colton Treu, 21, of Chippewa, Falls, Wisconsin.

Sokup said Treu would be charged with homicide for careless use of a vehicle. Sokup said that the accident had occurred before a hill and that there was no blind spot.

"The area is not a dangerous area," he said. Sokup made it clear that it was not immediately clear if there were any other factors that could have caused the driver to leave the road.

The accident occurred late Saturday morning as the girls were collecting their trash in a ditch of Lake Hallie, a town located about 153 km east of Minneapolis.

The girls were in grade four at Halmstad Elementary School in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, said a Minneapolis Star-Tribune member quoting a family member of a girl from the troop who was not injured . The scouts were all wearing a safety vest and were accompanied by several adults.

Two of the girls and the woman were declared dead on the scene. A third scout was taken to a hospital where she died, said Sokup. The fourth girl was taken to a hospital in critical condition. The names of the dead were not immediately published.

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Information from: Star Tribune, http://www.startribune.com