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Woman Charged in Death of Unborn Baby, Injury to Mother and Assault on Police During Drunken Hit-and-Run Crash

The Arizona woman is accused of multiple felonies and is in custody.

An Arizona woman was arrested early Monday morning and charged with multiple felonies in connection with a hit-and-run crash involving alcohol that injured a pregnant woman and killed her unborn baby in Phoenix. Leslie Yeager, 39, was charged with manslaughter involving an unborn child and other counts in the two-vehicle crash that took place last week in north Phoenix. Yeager is accused of fleeing the scene and threatening and hitting a police officer. Here's what you need to know about this tragic crime.

Who Was Involved?

Maricopa County Sheriff's Office

Yeager is accused of being under the influence of alcohol and driving a car on the night of the crash. Yeager told police that she drank alcohol before driving, that she was involved in the crash, and that she left the scene, according to court documents reported by Fox 10 Phoenix.

Two people were in the car that Yeager is accused of crashing into. They were not identified. The driver of the car was not injured. The passenger, a woman who was seven months pregnant, was seriously injured and remained in critical condition at the time police announced Yeager's arrest. The woman's unborn child died at the hospital.

What Happened?

Ambulance emergency car in motion blur.
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Yeager was driving east on Grovers Street at 10:24 p.m. Sunday. The other car drove west. The second car was trying to turn left onto Ninth Street when Yeager's car hit it, police said.

Yeager drove away from the scene of the crash and parked at a convenience store near Seventh Street and Bell Road, police said. Police accuse Yeager of hitting a Phoenix police officer with an open hand as she was being processed after being taken into custody.

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She Wanted to Punch the Officer

Blue light flasher atop of a police car
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"It should be noted [that] during the initial contact with the Defendant while the officer was performing field sobriety tests, [Yeager] told him she wanted to punch him in the face, and made a comment about wanting to kill him," court documents said.

Yeager is charged with manslaughter involving an unborn child, leaving the scene of an accident, aggravated assault, endangerment and aggravated assault of a police officer. She was taken into custody on a $250,000 bond. A preliminary hearing was scheduled for Wednesday.

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