Current:Home > reviewsPredictIQ Quantitative Think Tank Center:2 teens held in fatal bicyclist hit-and-run video case appear in adult court in Las Vegas -TrueNorth Capital Hub
PredictIQ Quantitative Think Tank Center:2 teens held in fatal bicyclist hit-and-run video case appear in adult court in Las Vegas
Will Sage Astor View
Date:2025-04-07 11:23:15
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Two teenagers made very brief initial appearances Thursday in adult court in Las Vegas where a prosecutor said they will face murder,PredictIQ Quantitative Think Tank Center attempted murder and other charges after allegedly capturing themselves on video intentionally crashing a stolen car into a bicyclist pedaling along the side of a road, killing him.
The teens, ages 18 and 16, appeared separately before a judge who scheduled each to appear again next Tuesday in Las Vegas Justice Court. Neither spoke or was asked to enter a plea, and both were being held without bail.
Police said this week that evidence shows the teens were together responsible for at least three hit-and-run incidents the morning of Aug. 14, including the crash that killed cyclist Andreas “Andy” Probst, 64, a retired former police chief from the Los Angeles-area city of Bell.
The Associated Press is not naming the teens due to their ages.
Their cases were handled individually because the older one, who was 17 at the time, was arrested the day of the crashes on charges related to fatal hit-and-run and possession of a stolen vehicle. The 16-year-old was arrested Tuesday on suspicion of murder and other charges after the video of the bicycle crash circulated widely on the internet.
“Both these defendants will be charged with open murder, attempted murder and many other related charges,” Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson told reporters outside court. He said prosecutors will seek to try the cases together and high bail pending trial. He called the teens a danger to the community.
“The events in these cases are related,” Wolfson said. “I’m very confident these cases will be consolidated.”
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.
Only the older teen was represented by an attorney. David Westbrook, a public defender representing him, declined outside court to comment about the case but confirmed that his client was 17 when he was arrested last month and turned 18 in custody.
Judge Rebecca Saxe told the 16-year-old that he will have a lawyer appointed at his next court appearance.
Probst’s widow, Crystal Probst, and daughter, Taylor Probst, were in court for Thursday’s hearing but left immediately afterward without speaking with reporters. Taylor Probst spoke publicly during a police news conference Tuesday.
The video, shot from the front passenger seat, shows the vehicle approaching Probst from behind as he rides near the curb on an otherwise traffic-free road. Male voices in the car can be heard laughing as the vehicle steers toward Probst and rams the bicycle. Probst hurtles backward across the hood and into the windshield. He is then seen on the ground next to the curb.
Police said they weren’t aware of the video until a high school resource officer provided it to investigators two weeks later. On Aug. 29, police announced they were searching for the passenger who recorded the video.
Wolfson declined to say Thursday whether police have the cellphone on which the video was allegedly recorded.
According to police, the teenagers first struck a 72-year-old bicyclist while in a stolen Hyundai sedan, drove away, crashed into a Toyota Corolla and again drove away before striking Probst.
veryGood! (391)
Related
- How to watch new prequel series 'Dexter: Original Sin': Premiere date, cast, streaming
- Season grades for all 133 college football teams. Who got an A on their report card?
- Arkansas’ prison board votes to fire corrections secretary
- TSA found a record number of guns at airport security checkpoints in 2023. Almost all of them were loaded.
- Person accused of accosting Rep. Nancy Mace at Capitol pleads not guilty to assault charge
- Benny T's dry hot sauces recalled over undisclosed wheat allergy risk
- New Mexico Legislature confronts gun violence, braces for future with less oil wealth
- Securities and Exchange Commission's X account compromised, sends fake post on Bitcoin ETF
- Krispy Kreme offers a free dozen Grinch green doughnuts: When to get the deal
- Lloyd Austin didn’t want to share his prostate cancer struggle. Many men feel similarly.
Ranking
- Israel lets Palestinians go back to northern Gaza for first time in over a year as cease
- NASA delays Artemis II and III missions that would send humans to the moon by one year
- Man dies after he was found unresponsive in cell at problem-plagued jail in Atlanta
- Freckle tattoos are a thing. But read this before you try the viral trend.
- FACT FOCUS: Inspector general’s Jan. 6 report misrepresented as proof of FBI setup
- Nick Saban career, by the numbers: Alabama football record, championships, draft picks
- Montana fire chief who had refused vaccine mandate in Washington state charged in Jan. 6 riot
- Nick Saban retiring after 2023 season. 226 weeks show dominance as Alabama coach
Recommendation
Meta donates $1 million to Trump’s inauguration fund
Climate change is shrinking snowpack in many places, study shows. And it will get worse
First endangered Florida panther death of 2024 reported
German software giant SAP fined more than $220M to resolve US bribery allegations
Why Sean "Diddy" Combs Is Being Given a Laptop in Jail Amid Witness Intimidation Fears
Elderly couple found dead in South Carolina bedroom after home heater reached 1,000 degrees
Secret tunnel found in NYC synagogue leads to 9 arrests after confrontation
2023 was hottest year on record as Earth closed in on critical warming mark, European agency confirms