LAS VEGAS (AP) — Two teenagers have been arrested and face murder charges as adults after targeting a bicyclist in Las Vegas and capturing the moments they hit the former California police chief on video, authorities said Tuesday.
Las Vegas police said they have tied the teens to at least three hit-and-run incidents on the morning of Aug. 14. They believe the death of 64-year-old Andreas Rene Probst, a former police chief in Bell, California, ended the spree.
Graphic video shows a dashboard view from the front seat of a vehicle approaching Probst from behind while he was riding near the curb on an otherwise traffic-free road. Laughter and comments from inside the car are heard before the bicyclist, wearing a red shirt and dark shorts, was struck and thrown against the windshield.
A final image from the moving car shows Probst on the ground next to the curb.
Deputy Police Chief Nick Farese called the recording from inside a stolen vehicle appalling and a “cowardly act."
Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson said he has taken a personal interest in the case and vowed to charge both teens as adults. Until then, he said they wouldn't be identified.
“Justice will be served in this case,” Wolfson said.
At a news conference Tuesday, Taylor Probst described her father — known by loved ones as “Andy” — as a man of honor and integrity who worked for more than 35 years in law enforcement.
“We are devastated by the senseless murder of Andy,” she said. “Andy’s life was robbed by two individuals who did not believe that lives of others matter.”
The 17-year-old driver was arrested shortly after spree of crashes on traffic charges related to the fatal hit-and-run. Police said they initially weren’t aware of the video but upgraded the driver’s charge to murder weeks later after a school resource officer provided the video to investigators. The second teen was arrested Tuesday.
According to police, the crime spree began just before dawn when the teenagers allegedly struck a 72-year-old bicyclist before driving off and crashing into a Toyota Corolla. The driver wasn't injured in the crash, police said, although they didn't detail what injuries, if any, the bicyclist suffered.
Seconds after striking the Toyota, the teenagers drove into Probst as he rode his bicycle in a designated bike lane, police said.
They took off while laughing, said Farese, the deputy police chief, “leaving him for dead on the side of a road.”
