Retired police chief, 64, was murdered by laughing 17-year-old while on his morning bike ride
- WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT
- Video emerged showing August 14 death of Andreas Probst, 64, in Las Vegas
- Driver, 17, was arrested and charged with murder, but his name was not released
PUBLISHED: 17:02 EDT, 16 September 2023 | UPDATED: 09:33 EDT, 17 September 2023
Video has emerged showing the recent hit-and-run death of a retired police chief in Las Vegas in what police are calling an intentional attack by the teenage driver.
Andreas Probst, 64, was fatally struck on August 14 while cycling in northwest Las Vegas, where he had retired after stepping down as the police chief of Bell, California, in 2009.
The 17-year-old driver, whose name was not released by police due to his age, was arrested soon after the crash and taken to the Juvenile Detention Center.
Late last month, police said charges against the driver would be upgraded to include an open murder count, after investigators discovered video indicating the driver intentionally struck Probst, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
On Saturday, video circulated widely on social media and drew outraged reactions, showing the driver ask 'ready?' and the passenger, who was filming, laughing as he replies 'yeah, hit his a**.'
Teen driver murders retired police chief in deliberate hit-and-run
Andreas Probst, 64, was was fatally struck on August 14 while cycling in northwest Las Vegas. Newly emerged video shows he was intentionally killed by the teenage driver
A visual analysis of the video by DailyMail.com confirms that it shows the same location where Probst was killed, on a stretch of North Tenaya Way, near West Centennial Parkway.
There has been no word of charges against the passenger who filmed the fatal crash and seemingly encouraged the driver to go through with it.
A spokesperson for the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Saturday.
On X, formerly known as Twitter, a clip of the video was shared by actor James Woods, who commented: 'They stole a car and murdered a perfectly innocent man for laughs. When will it end? And more importantly how will it end?'
Fox News commentator Greg Gutfeld compared the imagery to an ISIS beheading video, writing: 'a public execution. filmed. we need new leadership that sees that the new threat of terror is within, and put an end to this reign of evil.'
The fatal hit-an-run occurred at around 6am, while Probst was on his morning ride.
Police say a 2016 Hyundai Elantra struck him from the rear and fled the scene at high speed. Probst was rushed to University Medical Center, where he was confirmed dead.
The suspected driver of the Elantra was arrested later the same day, and police say he was associated with the theft of several other vehicles that morning.
The 17-year-old accused killer has not been named by police due to his status as a juvenile.
The 17-year-old driver (left) was arrested soon after the crash and has been charged with murder. There has been no word on charges for the passenger (right)
Probst retired to Nevada after stepping down as the police chief of Bell, California in 2009
Probst is seen in a family photo. He took up cycling for exercise after starting a remote job in security consulting after retiring from law enforcement
Probst had a 35-year career in law enforcement in California, including as police chief of Bell, an unincorporated city in Los Angeles County.
He retired in 2009 and moved to Las Vegas, where he had a remote job for a security consulting firm, and took up cycling as a way to stay in shape.
His daughter, Taylor Probst, told the Review-Journal that she received an alert from her dad's Apple Watch indicating that he'd fallen on the morning of August 14.
She rushed with her mother, Crystal, to the crash scene, which was only three miles from their home.
By the time they arrived, Probst had already been transported to a hospital, but the signs left behind were grim.
'I come from law enforcement as well in my younger days,' Crystal told the newspaper. 'I was able to ascertain, there's his bike, his helmet is way over there, his phone is way over there. I'm like, this is not good.'
'He was honestly like a ray of sunshine that just bled through your life,' said Probst's daughter Taylor, seen with her mother Crystal at a memorial vigil at the scene of the crash.
On September 7, community members gathered at the scene of the fatal crash to honor Probst with Ghost Bike, a permanently installed bike painted white to mark the collision point
Mourners are seen joining Probst's family as the scene were he was killed in Northwest Vegas
Cops from multiple local jurisdictions were also in attendance to pay respects
On September 7, community members gathered at the scene of the fatal crash to honor Probst with Ghost Bike, a permanently installed bike painted white to mark the collision point.
Cops from multiple local jurisdictions were also in attendance to pay respects.
'He was an amazing man, a husband,' Andreas's wife Crystal said at the memorial event, according to KLAS-TV. 'A father, a brother.'
'He was honestly like a ray of sunshine that just bled through your life,' said daughter Taylor.
Last year, 14 cyclists were killed on the roads of Clark County, which includes Las Vegas, in addition to 72 pedestrians who were fatally struck, according to state data.
According to the most recent data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 966 bicyclists were killed nationwide in traffic crashes in 2021, marking a 40-year high.
Source (Archive)
