More charges not ruled out in Pollard hit-run case

Leslie Pollard (Rochester Police photo)

ROCHESTER - Police have not ruled out more charges in the case involving a hit-and-run incident last month in which the husband of the city’s economic development director was arrested for driving drunk and felony conduct after an accident after he allegedly struck a pedestrian on Lowell Street a short distance from his home.

Meanwhile, a source familiar with the case said damage from the impact of the pedestrian caused significant damage to the windshield of the suspect’s car, which has been impounded. The source said it was necessary for them to remain anonymous, however the source’s identity is confirmed by The Lebanon Voice.

Karen Pollard

Leslie W. Pollard, 51, of 17 Hemlock St., in Rochester, was arrested early on Dec. 30 after he is alleged to have struck a 28-year-old Rochester woman as she walked on Lowell Street near the Revolution Church a little before 11:30 on Dec. 29, a Sunday night.

Pollard is the husband of Rochester Economic Development Director Karen Pollard.

The car was impounded on Dec. 30, said Rochester Police Capt. Paul Toussaint, the department’s media liaison.

Toussaint would not comment on whether anyone else in the case might be charged, but did not rule out that more charges could be forthcoming.

Karen Pollard was in the car at the time of the incident, and was the one who called police about five minutes after the initial 911 call came in from a Good Samaritan who had stopped to help the injured woman.

According to a Rochester Police log entry on Dec. 29, the call from the Good Samaritan came in at 11:27 p.m., followed five minutes later by Karen Pollard’s call in which, according to dispatch transcripts, she said “they may have hit something in the roadway.”

Map of neighborhood where accident occurred

The Pollards’ home on Hemlock Street is just a short distance from the Revolution Church at 87 Lowell St.

The injured woman was taken to Frisbie Memorial Hospital with nonlife-threatening injuries to her shoulder, and released. The source said the shoulder injury was due to it hitting the windshield of Pollard’s car, a black 2011 Ford Taurus registered to him. The source said the impact caused significant damage to the windshield.

Toussaint said the impounded vehicle was at a secure location in a privately run garage business that contracts with the town in such cases. He said no access could be permitted to the vehicle as it is part of an ongoing investigation, he said.

Pollard is free on $5,000 personal recognizance bail with an arraignment date of Jan. 13 in Rochester District Court.