LAS VEGAS (AP) — Prosecutors filed additional criminal charges Monday against two teenagers being held as adults in the video-recorded killing of a retired former Southern California police chief as he rode his bicycle on a Las Vegas road.
The teens, ages 18 and 16, are due in court Tuesday following what police say were at least three hit-and-run incidents the morning of Aug. 14 — including the apparently intentional crash that killed cyclist Andreas “Andy” Probst, 64. The Associated Press is not naming the teens due to their ages. Probst retired in 2009 as police chief in the Los Angeles-area city of Bell.
Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson said he filed five felony and two misdemeanor charges against the 18-year-old, including attempted murder, battery with a weapon, leaving the scene of a crash and possession of a stolen vehicle.
A battery with a weapon charge was added to the murder and attempted murder counts against the 16-year-old.
David Westbrook, a public defender representing the older defendant, declined to comment about the new charges. Westbrook has confirmed his client was 17 when he was arrested last month.
The younger teen was not represented by an attorney during an initial court appearance on Friday. He is expected to have a lawyer appointed to his defense on Tuesday.
“The behavior exhibited by (the) defendants … is outrageous and cannot be tolerated in this community,” Wolfson said in a statement.
The teens cannot face the death penalty. Under Nevada law, if they are convicted in adult court of murder committed before they were 18, the most severe sentence they can receive is 20 years to life in state prison.
The teenagers were in a stolen Hyundai sedan that first struck a 72-year-old bicyclist, drove away, crashed into a Toyota Corolla and again drove away before striking Probst, according to police.
The video, shot from the front passenger seat, recorded the teens talking and laughing as the vehicle steers toward Probst and hits the bicycle from behind. Probst’s body slams onto the hood and windshield before a final image shows him on the ground next to the curb.
The 18-year-old was arrested that day. The 16-year-old was arrested last week, after police said they became aware of the video circulating at a high school and announced their search for the person who recorded it.
