Police: Pollards, hit-run victim drank at club before crash

Leslie Pollard (Rochester Police photo)

Karen Pollard

ROCHESTER - The woman injured in an alleged hit-and-run accident involving the husband of Rochester’s economic development director was a passenger in another car with friends who were on their way to his house after partying at the same private club the night of the incident, according to court documents.

Police affidavits also state that Leslie Pollard, the husband of Economic Development Director Karen Pollard, chugged a half bottle of wine when he thought officers weren’t looking after they had arrived at his Hemlock Street home to interview him and lied to officers about where he was earlier in the evening.

Police have seized several items as they investigate the case, including Leslie Pollard’s Ford Taurus, Karen Pollard’s town-owned cellphone and bar tabs and possible surveillance video from Club Victoire, a private club on North Main Street where the Pollards, the woman struck and two other friends of the Pollards were drinking the evening of Dec. 29.

Meanwhile, Karen Pollard, also a deputy city manager, has refused to turn over a passcode to unlock the phone, prompting police to file a motion to compel her to turn it over. A hearing on the matter is scheduled for Rochester District Court next Tuesday.

Leslie Pollard is charged with felony conduct after an accident and misdemeanor DWI. His probable cause hearing is set for next month.

The affidavits on file indicate that the Pollards that night had some drinks at the club, where the victim and two other friends of the Pollards were also in attendance.

At some point the two friends left with the victim, a 28-year-old Rochester woman, while the Pollards remained at the bar, one of the affidavits states. Then the car the two friends and victim were driving in broke down on Lowell Street near the Revolution Church, whereupon the victim is said to have gotten out of the car and said she wanted to go home. One of the friends stated that once they got the car going again, the two of them traveled on to Pollard’s house. The friend stated it wasn’t unusual for him to do that as he and the other friend were good friends with the Pollards and went to their house often.

When the Pollards arrived home a short time later, the friend indicated Leslie Pollard said he may have hit an “animal or ice” and sent a family member to go check the area and told his wife to call police.  

When police arrived at the Pollard residence, Leslie Pollard was standing by his open garage door in jeans and a T-shirt, the affidavit states, adding it was cold and snowing that night. The affidavit also states Leslie Pollard was unsteady, slurred his speech and that his eyes were “bloodshot and glossy.”

At first Leslie Pollard said he had dinner and a couple of beers at the Chef’s Table restaurant, but Karen Pollard said they’d had dinner at home and then gone to the Club Victoire for drinks. Leslie Pollard also made statements about consuming a large amount of alcohol when he arrived home, a fact contradicted by his wife. Police also stated seeing Leslie Pollard chug a half bottle of wine when he appeared to believe he was not being watched.

The affidavit also indicates Leslie Pollard tried to keep police from interviewing his wife and interrupted the interview once it had started. Karen Pollard told police she had two drinks while at the club, while she didn’t know how many her husband had. During the initial police interview, the affidavit states she was crying and wouldn’t look the officer in the face. She also stated she saw nothing on the drive home, then said something about seeing someone struck by a vehicle and that she was upset, then said she saw nothing again, the affidavit indicates.

Through all of the investigation the Pollards have maintained that it was Leslie Pollard who drove home from the club.

The victim, meanwhile, said she remembered drinking several vodka and cranberry beverages at the club, but didn’t remember who she left with. She told police she remembered walking along Lowell Street, then being hit and feeling a burning sensation where she was hit, then trying to flag down several motorists to help her.

The Good Samaritan who stopped called police to report the accident at 11:27 p.m. The call from Karen Pollard came in at 11:32.

The victim was transported to Frisbie Memorial Hospital and was treated for a broken collarbone on her right shoulder.

When police inspected Leslie Pollard’s 2011 Ford Taurus, they observed a broken driver side windshield wiper, some minor damage to the driver’s side front and back and a small impact fracture on the bottom right side of the passenger side windshield, an affidavit states. If further states police were told the driver side damage was old damage.

One of the affidavits also reveals that Karen Pollard called four days later on Jan. 2 to ask police if she could get her cellphone out of the car. Police found the phone on the driver’s side between the seat and the door sill. Police remark within the affidavit that they thought this odd, since Karen Pollard was reported as the passenger the night of the crash. However, the affidavit also notes that Karen Pollard used the vehicle between the time of the accident and its seizure by police. It also notes that she used her phone while police were at her house the night of the incident and that she contacted Rochester Police Chief Michael Allen while police were at her home. Allen has stated he did not return the messages.

The affidavit reasons that, given all the deception in the case, if she messaged Allen during the initial interviews at her house, she may have messaged or texted others and that information might be relevant to the investigation.