Fugitive In 2017 Hit-And-Run That Killed Bicyclist In Whittier Arrested In Australia, Brought Back To US
WHITTIER (CBSLA) — The suspect in a 2017 hit-and-run that killed a man on a bicycle has been returned to Southern California Thursday after being captured in Australia.
Andrea Dorothy Chan Reyes, 35, was taken into the custody of Whittier police and faces charges of felony hit-and-run and vehicular manslaughter. She is being held on $1 million bail.
Traffic investigators identified Reyes as the driver who hit 46-year-old Agustin Rodriguez Jr. with her white Lexus sedan on Jan. 30, 2017. The vehicle was found in a residential garage in Idaho, while other evidence was located in Nevada – but investigators determined Reyes fled the U.S. soon after the collision and was living in Hong Kong.
Working with the FBI, an international arrest warrant was issued for Reyes. But she was later determined to be living in Australia, where law enforcement in that country took her into custody.
Police say the year-long extradition process finally ended this week with U.S. marshals taking custody of Reyes, who was then flown to the U.S. Reyes landed Thursday morning at Van Nuys Airport and was taken into the custody of Whittier police.