By Ken Ritter and Rio Yamat
Associated Press
LAS VEGAS — Two teenagers face murder charges for targeting a bicyclist in Las Vegas and capturing on video the moment they drove into the man as he pedaled along the side of a road, 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, was the final one.
Video shot from the front passenger seat shows the vehicle approaching Probst from behind while he was riding near the curb on an otherwise traffic-free road. As those in the car laugh, the vehicle steers toward Probst and then rams the bicycle, sending Probst hurtling onto the hood and into 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 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 on the day of the crashes on traffic charges related to the fatal hit-and-run. Police said they initially weren’t aware of the video until weeks later when a school resource officer provided it to investigators, leading to a murder charge for the driver and prompting a police search for the passenger in the video. The second teen was arrested Tuesday.
According to police, the vehicular crimes began just before dawn when the teenagers 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. They didn’t detail what injuries, if any, the bicyclist suffered.
Shortly 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.”