Police seek phone password in Pollard hit-run case

Karen Pollard

Leslie Pollard

ROCHESTER - The city’s Economic Development director was in Rochester District Court on Wednesday morning as police sought a judge’s order to force her to turn over the security password for her cellphone, which they think may contain evidence in a hit-and-run accident case involving her husband.

Karen Pollard, who is also the city’s deputy city manager, had her case continued, presumably while she gets a lawyer, until next Tuesday.

Meanwhile, her husband, Leslie W. Pollard, remains free on personal recognizance bail after he was charged last month with driving drunk when he hit a pedestrian on Lowell Street, then left the scene continuing to his residence a short distance away on Hemlock Street.

Karen Pollard, who was a passenger in the car at the time, called police from their house about five minutes after a 911 came into Rochester Dispatch alerting police to the accident.

Leslie Pollard, 51, of 17 Hemlock St., was arrested in the early hours of Dec. 30 and charged with felony conduct after an accident and misdemeanor DWI.

His next court date, a probable cause hearing, is set for next month.

Toussaint said on Wednesday police have already seized the cellphone in question after executing a search warrant, but that Karen Pollard has resisted giving police the password, which would allow authorities to access all phone records and messages.   

The victim of the hit-and-run, a 28-year-old Rochester woman, was treated and released for a shoulder injury after the late-night accident on Dec. 29, a Sunday.

Leslie Pollard’s car, a 2011 Ford Taurus, has been impounded.

Toussaint, the department’s media liaison, has refused comment on damage to the vehicle saying it is part of an ongoing investigation.

A source familiar with the case, however, has told The Lebanon Voice that the car sustained visible damage to the windshield where it was impacted by the woman’s shoulder. The source did not wish to reveal their name, but the source’s identity has been verified by The Lebanon Voice.

Karen Pollard, who in 2010 was paid about $80,000 in city salary, was the one who called police about five minutes after police dispatch received the first 911 call from a Good Samaritan who had stopped to help the injured woman.

Dispatch records reveal Karen Pollard told police they thought they may have hit something in the street. The Pollards’ home is about three-tenths of a mile from where the accident occurred.

Both the dispatch transcripts and tapes have been sealed from the media as they are part of the investigation, said Strafford County Attorney Thomas Velardi last week. The Lebanon Voice had filed a Right to Know request to have them released.

In his written denial of the request, Velardi said, in part, “I believe that releasing the requested materials at this time would create adverse consequences for law enforcement as well as the accused as release (1) could reasonably be expected to interfere with on-going enforcement proceedings and (2) would deprive the accused of a right to a fair trial or an impartial adjudication.” 

Leslie Pollard has hired Stephen Jeffco of Portsmouth as his defense attorney.