Retired police chief killed in hit-and-run remembered for laugh, love of coffee

Andreas Probst always went for a morning bike ride near his northwest Las Vegas home.

The retired Bell, California, police chief spent 35 years in law enforcement. He retired from the force in 2009 and moved to a remote job in global security, so he needed the exercise.

On Monday morning, his daughter, Taylor Probst, got an alert from her dad’s Apple Watch indicating that the 64-year-old man had fallen. The 27-year-old and her mother, Crystal Probst, drove to the scene of the crash, only 3 miles from their home.

“I come from law enforcement as well in my younger days,” Crystal Probst said in an interview Friday. “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.”

A 2016 Hyundai Elantra, which the Metropolitan Police Department said was being driven by a minor, was speeding when it hit the back of the bike and drove off.

The driver left the scene but was arrested nearby.

The driver was taken to the Juvenile Detention Center, and his name had not been released because of his age.

Officers and firefighters told the women that Probst had been taken to University Medical Center.

They waited four hours there, asking everyone where their loved one was.

Finally, a representative from the Clark County coroner’s office told them Probst had passed.

“When they know somebody’s dead, and a family is sitting out in that lobby waiting, somebody needs to come out,” Crystal Probst said, angry at the delayed response.

The Probst couple would have celebrated their 35th wedding anniversary next month, and they had spent the summer hosting friends for a week of golf and enjoying an Alaskan cruise. Last week, their oldest child, Michael Probst, 31, came to town for dinner at Downtown Summerlin.

Andreas Probst loved to make coffee, and Crystal Probst said on Thursday she had to learn how to use the fancy new Ninja coffee machine the couple bought together, because it was always her husband’s specialty.

“Yesterday was the hardest, like oh my gosh, how the hell do we use the coffee maker?” she said, catching her voice in her throat.

Taylor Probst said her dad was everyone’s dad, as he welcomed any stranger into their home.

“Being around him, it was like being next to a ray of sunshine,” Taylor Probst said. “He was always laughing, always smiling, offering you support, life advice, career advice.”

Now, the Probst family is wondering how many more reckless drivers and fatal crashes will happen on Las Vegas roads before there are stricter penalties.

“There’s no ramifications,” Crystal Probst said. “It’s not getting better. We as a community are paying for this through our insurance rates going up.”

“And through our loved ones,” Taylor Probst added.

A celebration of life is scheduled for 2 p.m. on Sept. 10 at the Green River Golf Course in Corona, California.

Contact Sabrina Schnur at sschnur@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0278. Follow @sabrina_schnur on Twitter.