No action taken against Victory Club in Pollard case

Leslie and Karen Pollard at his probable cause hearing last February in Rochester District Court. (Lebanon Voice file photo)

CONCORD, N.H. - A year after the snowy December night Leslie and Karen Pollard were in a car that struck a woman they had been earlier drinking with at the Victory Club, the state Liquor Commission has decided not to move forward with any punitive action against the club in connection with possible overserving the night of the incident.

Scott Dunn, Deputy Director of the Department of Enforcement, told The Lebanon Voice on Friday that there was not sufficient evidence to move forward with any action against the longtime, popular Rochester social club.

The woman injured in the alleged hit-and-run accident involving Leslie Pollard, the husband of Rochester's Economic Development Director Karen Pollard, was a passenger in another car with friends who were on their way to the Pollards' home after partying at the club, according to police affidavits.

The accident occurred late Dec. 29 in front of the Revolution Church on Lowell Street, a short distance from the Pollards' Hemlock Street home.

Leslie Pollard was charged early Dec. 30 with felony conduct after an accident and misdemeanor DWI. He was indicted early last year, but the case never came to trial, largely because the state couldn't prove who was behind the wheel of Leslie Pollard's Ford Taurus the night of the incident.

Strafford County Attorney Tom Velardi announced in The Lebanon Voice on Sept. 23 that prosecutors were unable to "prove adequately" that Leslie Pollard was behind the wheel that night and not his wife, Karen.

During a probable cause hearing in the case last February Leslie Pollard's attorney Stephen T. Jeffco raised the specter of such a defense strategy asking an officer who investigated the case if he ever thought Leslie Pollard was covering up for his wife due to her high-paying city job and standing in the community.

The Liquor Commission withheld its probe until the legal case had run its course.

Court affidavits 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 the Pollard 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 (also known as Victory Club) for drinks.

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. She continues her recovery from the incident.

The Liquor Commission was expected to review possible surveillance video from the club as well as any available bar tabs and receipts.

While Velardi has discontinued prosecution of the case, it is still subject to reopening if additional evidence is unearthed, he said.