Two boys injured when hit by van near Iowa City

IOWA CITY — A boy has suffered life-threatening injuries and another was injured when they were hit by a minivan near Iowa City Monday night.

According to the Johnson County Sheriff's Office, deputies responded to a car-pedestrian crash on Dane Road just south of the bridge over Highway 218 at 10:39 p.m. Authorities learned three boys were walking on Dane Road when two of them were hit by a southbound minivan driven by an Iowa City woman, who was on her way home from work.

The sheriff's office said they are uncertain why the juveniles were on the road at the time, including whether the boys were playing the mobile game, Pokemon Go.

'We don't know because one said they were doing something on an app and the other said they weren't playing games or anything,' said Johnson County Sheriff Lonny Pulkrabek. 'We're going to be re-interviewing everybody so we can try to pin that down.'

'It seems odd,' Pulkrabek added. 'I don't want to throw up the panic button on this Pokemon thing, but I can't rule it out, either.'

Pulkrabek said one of the boys also told deputies they were expecting someone to pick them up and thought the approaching vehicle was a friend.

'We really don't know what they were doing,' he said. 'I don't even know what direction they were walking at this point in time.'

The crash remains under investigation. The sheriff's office was assisted by the Johnson County Ambulance Service, Hills Fire Department First Responders, Iowa City Police Department and Iowa State Patrol.

l Comments: (319) 398-8238; lee.hermiston@thegazette.com