A woman suspected of fatally hitting a bicyclist with her vehicle and fleeing the scene more than three and a half years ago in Whittier is now back in the U.S. after being captured in Australia, police announced Thursday.
Australian officials transferred custody of Andrea Dorothy Chan Reyes to the United States Marshals on Wednesday, according to a Whittier Police Department news release.
She was identified as the driver of a white Lexus sedan involved in a hit-and-run crash that killed a 46-year-old man riding his bicycle in the area of Calmada Avenue and Flomar Drive on Jan. 30, 2017, police said.
The victim, Agustin Rodriguez Jr., had been dragged beneath the car about 500 to 800 feet, Whittier Officer John Scoggins told KTLA at the time.
His body was found on Dittmar Drive, about two residential blocks away from where the deadly collision occurred.
Reyes was identified as the driver through information received by the Police Department’s Traffic Bureau, according to the release. The Lexus was recovered in a residential garage in Idaho, and more evidence was discovered in Nevada.
A short time after the crash, Reyes left the U.S. and went to live in Hong Kong, investigators determined. Whittier police worked with the FBI and obtained an international arrest warrant for the suspect.
Later, the FBI discovered she had moved to Australia. She was taken into custody through cooperation with Australian law enforcement, the release stated.
Following a lengthy extradition process, Reyes was flown back to the U.S. and landed in Southern California on Thursday morning. She was immediately transferred to the custody of Whittier police, according to officials.
Reyes is expected to be charged with hit-and-run and vehicular manslaughter, both felonies, police said.