Teen who allegedly filmed his friend plowing into bicyclist in Las Vegas is arrested for murder
Both suspects face murder charges in the Las Vegas hit-and-run death of Andreas Probst
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A second teenager has been arrested in the Las Vegas hit-and-run death of a former LA police chief who was intentionally mowed down, police said.
Andreas Probst, 64, was on his morning bike ride when he was struck by a vehicle just after 6am on 14 August on North Tenaya Way.
The 17-year-old alleged driver was arrested soon after the incident. On Tuesday, a second teen who allegedly filmed a mocking video of the crash was also arrested. Both suspects face murder charges.
Las Vegas police said they have tied the teens to at least three hit-and-run incidents on the morning of 14 August.
The two teenagers struck a 72-year-old man on a bicycle in the early hours of the morning before hitting and killing Probst in a separate incident, police said.
The 72-year-old was not injured in the crash.
In a video of the fatal hit-and-run, one of the teenagers can be heard asking “Ready?” before the teenagers mow down Probst.
“Yeah, yeah, yeah, hit his a**,” the other teenager says as the driver veers into the bike lane behind Probst.
The retired police chief is then struck off his bike and thrown against the windshield.
“Damn, that n**** got knocked out!” the passenger can then be heard saying. “Oh, sh**, we need to get out of here,” the panicked driver replies.
A final image from the moving car shows Probst on the ground next to the curb as the teenagers drive off while laughing.
Probst was rushed to a hospital where he died.
Deputy police chief Nick Farese called the recording, which was taken from inside a stolen vehicle, appalling and a “cowardly act.”
He said the teenagers left Probst “for dead on the side of a road.”
Clark County district attorney Steven Wolfson said he plans to transfer the cases to adult court.
“I am confident that is what is going to happen in this case,” Mr Wolfson said. “Justice will be served in this case … I am taking a personal interest in this case. I do get involved in important cases and this is one of them.”
Probst’s daughter, Taylor, said the family was devastated by the “senseless murder” of her father.
She described her father as a “man of honor” and “a real-life ‘Pee-Wee Herman.’”
She said: “Andy’s life was robbed by two individuals who did not believe lives of others matters,” she said. “We ask you please do not politicize his death or use it for culture wars. He was a man of honor, with 35-plus years in law enforcement. A little league dad, an honorary Girl Scouts member, a real-life ‘Pee-Wee Herman,’ a jokester, a prankster.”
She attributed the violence against her father to social media and “decayed family values.”
Mr Probst retired from law enforcement in 2009 and served as the police chief of the Los Angeles suburb of Bell. After his retirement, he moved to the Las Vegas area where he worked in global security.