By Samantha Kamman, Christian Post Reporter
Two teens are facing murder charges in connection with a hit-and-run that resulted in the death of a retired police chief after a video surfaced that showed the pair planning to run the 64-year-old man down with a car.
Andreas Probst, a retired police chief for the city of Bell, died from his injuries after the teenagers hit him with a car on Aug. 14 near Tenaya Way and Centennial Parkway.
According to a Tuesday Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department statement, detectives have placed the teen passenger who filmed the hit-and-run under arrest, and he has been booked into the Clark County Juvenile Hall.
As KTLA reported Tuesday, authorities had already located the vehicle involved in the incident and the 17-year-old driver on Aug. 31. The male suspect was arrested and booked into Clark County Juvenile Hall.
The officers learned of the video depicting the incident on Aug. 29, according to LVMPD's statement. After learning the hit-and-run was intentional, LVMPD Homicide detectives took over the investigation, and the charges were amended to include open murder.
"The video showed how the driver intentionally sideswiped a sedan as they traveled northbound on Tenaya," the statement explained. "A few seconds later, the suspects observed Probst riding his bicycle. The individuals pulled directly behind Probst and ran him over, as they fled the scene and laughed."
In the video, which has circulated online, the driver asks the passenger if he's "ready" as he speeds up the vehicle and drives behind Probst, who was riding his bicycle in the designated bike lane. The passenger replied, "Yeah, hit his a—" before the car struck the retired police chief.
After he was hit, the video shows Probst's body slamming into the windshield and then tumbling to the side of the road. The man suffered "life-threatening injuries," according to LVMPD's statement. He was transported to UMC Trauma, where he was eventually declared deceased.
The detectives handling the case are also investigating another hit-and-run that they believe the pair may have been involved in prior to hitting Probst, according to LVMPD.
According to KTLA, Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson said during a Tuesday press conference that the two teens will likely be transferred to the adult system after the prosecution of the pair began at the juvenile level.
"In the criminal justice system, if you are a minor and you are eligible to be charged for the crime of murder, you are automatically sent to the adult system," he said. "I am confident that that is what's going to happen in this case."
The victim's daughter, Taylor Probst, also spoke at the press conference, stating that the family is "devastated by the senseless murder of Andy."
"Andy's life was robbed by two individuals who did not believe that lives of others matter," she stated.
According to a Sunday Las Vegas Review-Journal report, a misunderstanding occurred regarding the media outlet's coverage of the hit-and-run. The outlet's crime reporter, Sabrina Schnur, wrote an obituary for Probst with a headline describing the incident as a "bike crash" instead of a deliberate murder.
The report was published a week before the video of Probst murder surfaced. After a source contacted the outlet with the video showing the teens intentionally running down the retired police chief, Schur connected the source with the police, and authorities later announced that they had deemed the incident a homicide.
In response to the new information, The Review-Journal changed the headline. However, after the video went viral, screenshots of the article with the original "bike crash" headline started to emerge on social media.
"An innocent man was murdered in cold blood while riding his bicycle," Elon Musk wrote in a Sunday post on X, sharing a photo of the article with the initial headline. "The killers joked about it on social media. Yet, where is the media outrage? Now you begin to understand the lie."
The newspaper's executive editor, Glenn Cook, criticized what he described as the "social media outrage machine" in a Sunday statement.
"Sabrina Schnur and the Review-Journal are the target of vicious cyber harassment because a prodded digital audience never noticed the story that infuriated them was published almost a month ago, before new facts ever came to light," Cook said.
Police became aware of the video after it was airdropped around Arbor View High School on Aug. 29, according to The Review-Journal.
According to a Tuesday New York Post report, Probst's family said that they don't believe the murder was related to his law enforcement career, suggesting that the tragedy is due to the effect that "social media has on our youth."
"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," LVMPD Detective Lt. Jason Johansen said about the crime.
Samantha Kamman is a reporter for The Christian Post. She can be reached at: samantha.kamman@christianpost.com. Follow her on Twitter: @Samantha_Kamman
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