WOMAN IN DEADLY HIT AND RUN EXTRADITED FROM AUSTRALIA BACK TO WHITTIER

The Whittier Police Department this afternoon announced on their Facebook page that Andrea Dorothy Chan Reyes was handed over to Whittier Police today after being extradited from Australia.

Reyes was identified as the woman driving a white lexus involved in the deadly hit and run accident that killed Whittier resident Augustin Rodriguez Jr. who had been riding his bike at the time on January 30, 2017. Rodriguez was 46 at the time of his death. Reyes had been on the run since then.

Investigators said Reyes fled the scene and went first to Nevada then to Idaho and eventually fled to Hong Kong, China where she holed up before venturing over to Australia. The Chinese government has a record of refusing extradition requests from the US but the US has close relations with the Australians.

At the time of the incident, Reyes dragged Rodriguez under her vehicle for quite a distance according to the Whittier PD statement.

US law enforcement agencies sought an international arrest warrant for Reyes as soon as they learned she was in Hong Kong. The main agency assisting Whittier Police in the issue was the FBI according to the Whittier PD statement.

The extradition took a year to carry out due to red tape. Australian authorities took Reyes into custody and handed her over to agents with the US Marshall's service in Australia. After arriving at Van Nuys airport this morning she was immediately handed over to the Whittier Police Department.

Andrea Reyes is being charged with felony hit and run and felony manslaughter according to the Whittier PD statement.

Whittier Police credited the following agencies for their assistance in bringing Reyes to justice: the Whittier Police Department; the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office; the Federal Bureau of Investigations Los Angeles Field Office: the United States Department of Justice, Office of International Affairs; the United States Attorney's Office in Los Angeles; the Australian Federal Police; the United States Embassy in Canberra, Australia; the FBI's Legal Attaché in Canberra, Australia; the United States Marshal's Service in Los Angeles and the Los Angeles Airport Police, Van Nuys.

Image shows Andrea Dorothy Chan Reyes being handed over to Whittier Police at Van Nuys airport after being escorted off the plane by US Marshalls.