Police in Las Vegas said they are now investigating the hit-and-run death of a retired police chief last month as a homicide after a disturbing video recently circulating social media shows it was “an intentional act.”
Andreas Probst, 64, was riding a bicycle during the early morning hours of Aug. 14 on the outskirts of the city when he was struck by a Hyundai sedan, according to Scripps News Las Vegas.
Probst later died from his injuries at University Medical Center.
Las Vegas Metropolitan Police said the car that hit him did not stay at the scene. They later located the driver, a 17-year-old, and arrested him on charges related to the hit-and-run.
According to police, the teen was fleeing another hit-and-run at the time and the car he was in was reported stolen.
A couple weeks later a video depicting the fatal incident began to make its rounds on social media.
The 50-second video, recorded by a passenger in the car, appears to show the car speeding up when a bicyclist, who police believe was Probst, appears in the frame.
You can hear one of the individuals in the video state “you ready?” and another state “hit his a**” before they plow into the back of the bicyclist, sending him into their windshield and over the back of the car. The video pans to show the bicyclist lying on the ground before they speed away.
Police said that video led their homicide detectives to take over the investigation and charges against the teen will be amended to include open murder.
According to Scripps News Las Vegas, Probst spent 35 years in law enforcement before retiring from his post as police chief in Bell, California.
A ghost bike memorial was placed in his memory near the site of the tragic incident.