A York County grand jury this week added a felony motor vehicle charge to six other charges filed against a Saco man accused in a hit-and-run crash in June that left an elderly pedestrian hospitalized until her death.

The new charge against Leo Paul Bedard III, operating a motor vehicle with a revoked or suspended license resulting in death, is a lesser charge than the manslaughter charge that prosecutors could have sought against him.

Bedard, 45, appeared in York County Superior Court in Alfred in August and pleaded not guilty to six lesser charges related to the June 21 hit-and-run that critically injured 87-year-old Jewell Friedman of Saco.

Friedman was walking her dog on Ferry Road in Saco when she was struck. She was taken first to Southern Maine Health Care in Biddeford and then transferred to Maine Medical Center in Portland, where she died on July 12.

Deputy District Attorney Justina McGettigan said she could not comment on whether her office pursued a manslaughter charge because grand jury proceedings are secret.

The new charge is a Class B felony, punishable by up to 10 years in prison. A manslaughter charge is a Class A felony, punishable by up to 30 years in prison.

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The earlier grand jury returned indictments against Bedard on two lesser felony charges – leaving the scene of an accident resulting in serious bodily injury or death and witness tampering – and four misdemeanor charges of failure to report an accident, driving with a suspended license and two counts of violation of bail conditions from a prior case.

Bedard has been held on $25,000 cash bail since his arrest the day Friedman was struck. A court date for Bedard to be arraigned on the new indictment has not been set.

Friedman lived in the Atlantic Heights retirement community off Ferry Road with her dog, Selina.

Friedman and her husband, Don, moved to Saco four years ago to live in the retirement community and to be closer to the beach. Her husband died in February.

Scott Dolan can be reached at 791-6304 or at:

sdolan@pressherald.com

Twitter: @scottddolan


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