Gov. Tina Kotek on Friday said she’s ordered the extradition of a suspected member of a multi-state burglary ring who allegedly targeted Asian households throughout the Eugene area and fled to Texas, averting some of the blowback she faced for rejecting the extradition earlier this week.

The reversal marks the second time in the past two weeks that Kotek has changed course in an extradition decision in the wake of public pressure. The governor made a more explicit reversal in May regarding the transfer of a woman who fled to Ohio after being accused of embezzling from Eugene Weekly, a move the locally-beloved newspaper has called “an about-face.”

This time, the decision to extradite came “after further communication with the Lane County DA’s office and review of the information provided,” Roxy Mayer, a Kotek press secretary, said in an email. The governor is “still not moving forward” with the extradition of another member of the burglary ring who fled Oregon and who is being held in Texas with an Immigrations and Customs Enforcement hold.

https://oregoncapitalchronicle.com/2025/06/06/in-major-reversal-kotek-seeks-return-of-fugitive-suspected-of-targeting-asian-oregonians/