Man plows pickup truck through motorcycles

PANAMA CITY BEACH, Fla. -- A man who had argued with six members of the Outlaws motorcycle gang ran them down with a stolen pickup truck, killing two of the bikers and seriously injuring another, police said Thursday.

Witnesses told police that the driver chased the bikers about a half-mile down a coastal highway Wednesday before hitting the victims and dragging them along the road in this Florida Panhandle resort city.

"He pulled up behind the five motorcycles, hit the gas, and plowed right through them," said deputy police chief David Humphreys.

Killed were Nola Zietler, 47, and Donald Dunham, 61, authorities said. Hospitalized in serious condition was 57-year-old Larry Berryman.

The other bikers got back on their motorcycles and chased the truck.

They alerted an officer in a marked Environmental Protection vehicle who joined the pursuit.

The driver of the pickup rammed the officer's vehicle after driving onto a dead end road, Humphreys said.

Timothy E. Pilgren, 26, of Texarkana, Ark., was charged with two open counts of murder. An open count lets authorities hold a suspect until prosecutors or a grand jury determine the degree of the alleged crime.

All were members of the Outlaws chapter in Bay City, Mich., Humphreys said.

The argument began when Pilgren tried to sell "silver certificates" to the bikers and then made a derogatory comment, Humphreys said. He said one of the bikers punched Pilgren in the chest before they rode off.