Second Teen In Car That Mowed Down Retired Police Chief Arrested, Both Face Murder Charges
The teen boy who filmed his friend driving into a retired police chief, killing him, was arrested Tuesday, Las Vegas officials said.
The passenger and teen driver are both facing murder charges after the disturbing video of the killing came to light, officials said Tuesday at a press conference. The 17-year-old who was driving the car was previously arrested last month.
“It’s a complete lack of conscience on a part of it and the worst part about it in the video is you hear that everything was intentional,” Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Detective Lieutenant Jason Johansen said.
“A cowardly act that in my 22 years of law enforcement left me personally appalled, two juveniles joyriding in a car intentionally hitting and killing an innocent man who was riding a bicycle and leaving him for dead along the side of a road,” said Police Deputy Chief Nick Farese.
The distressing, graphic video shows the teen driver speeding up behind 64-year-old Andreas “Andy” Probst, a former police chief, while he was on his morning bike ride around 6 a.m. on August 14.
“Ready?” the driver can be heard saying to his friend in the passenger seat, who is laughing and filming.
“Yeah, get his a**,” the passenger responds.
The car then mows down the former police chief, who is thrown onto the windshield, cracking it and sending glass shards flying into the car. He tumbles over the car before landing on the ground several feet away from his bike.
“Damn that n***a got knocked out!” the passenger says as the pair speed away from the scene.
“Oh s***, we need to get out of here,” the driver says.
Authorities said the pair of teens had been on a crime spree that morning, which included stealing at least four cars and hitting a 72-year-old man a half hour earlier that left him with non-life-threatening injuries.
Earlier in the video, the teens also appear to ram a white car driving in the lane next to them.
Initially, the teen driver of the car was arrested on suspicion of a hit and run, but since the video of the killing came to light, both teens are now facing murder charges, and prosecutors said both teens will be tried as adults.
While the driver was arrested last month, police searched for the passenger who filmed the incident for five weeks before arresting him.
The video reportedly contributed to police identifying the passenger. A student alerted a school resource officer about the video of the incident, and the school resource officer alerted police.
Probst was a 35-year law enforcement veteran and headed the police force in Bell, California, before retiring in 2009 and moving to Las Vegas.
His daughter, Taylor Probst, joined officials at the press conference.
“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.”
“He was a Little League dad, an honorary member of Girl Scouts,” she said, “and he was always there for the various activities we’d get into as a family. His colleagues remember him as a real-life Pee-wee Herman. He was a jokester, a prankster and always had a way to make you laugh.”
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