April M. Smith spent her last night alive playing cards and socializing with loved ones a little over three weeks ago.

The man accused of running her over in a fatal hit-run accident spent the same night drinking and taking drugs, authorities say.

Their paths crossed in the early morning of Oct. 2 on the 1100 block of Broadway.

Michael D. Held, 43, a longtime Buffalo resident who later moved to Niagara County, did his best to cover his tracks, but it wasn't good enough, police say.

Three weeks into an exhaustive investigation, police said Wednesday they have obtained a confession from Held and the full cooperation of his passenger. That would not have happened if not for a tip and extensive work by accident investigators from Buffalo and Amherst.

Held is charged with leaving the scene of the fatal accident at 6:15 a.m. Oct. 2. He could face more severe charges as Erie County District Attorney Frank A. Sedita III prepares to present the case to a grand jury.

Held, a twice-convicted felon who lives in North Tonawanda, showed up the morning after the accident at Carruba Collision and Glass in neighboring Wheatfield looking to get the damaged front end of his green 2005 Chevrolet Trailblazer repaired.

Police said he lied when he told the repair workers how his SUV was damaged, claiming another vehicle struck it in a hit-run accident.

"He brought his vehicle there first thing Monday morning and said it had been damaged in a parking lot over the weekend. He never reported the accident to the police, but he did report it to his insurance company to cover the $3,000 in damage," a police official said.

A week later, he was back behind the wheel of the repaired SUV. Carruba was unaware that the vehicle had been involved in a fatal hit-run, but once workers were told about the investigation, the business fully cooperated, police said.

In the toughest moments of the investigation, police, Mayor Byron W. Brown and Smith family members gathered at a news conference last week and pleaded with the public for assistance in solving the death of the 48-year-old woman. People came forward within hours, and investigators started making headway.

The passenger, whose name was not released, informed authorities that he and Held started drinking at area bars and using drugs early on the evening of Oct. 1.

As the night wore on, police said, the two men headed to familiar turf in the Clinton-Bailey neighborhood and shortly after 6 a.m. Oct. 2 were driving west on Broadway.

After being asked to go to Buffalo Police Headquarters at 6 p.m. Tuesday for questioning, Held admitted his involvement in the accident. He said he knew he had hit something but did not know what it was, police said.

Instead of stopping on that dark and rainy morning, police said, he fled.

"He came to headquarters on his own with family members," said Lt. Joseph Pierchala, commander of the Buffalo Police Department's Accident Investigation Unit.

Held, who works for a moving company, is now being held in lieu of $750,000 bail in the Erie County Holding Center.

Police Commissioner Daniel Derenda and Brown described the work of accident investigators as unrelenting and gave credit to the public as well.

The investigation involved huge obstacles that included a list of 700 vehicles that matched the suspect vehicle, a dark green Chevrolet Trailblazer manufactured between 2002 and 2006.

Police throughout Erie County started knocking on doors at the addresses where those 700 vehicles were registered to check for damage.

"That's probably what took us so long, but we received a lot of cooperation from the surrounding police departments," Pierchala said.

Then, only hours after the Oct. 19 news conference, tips started coming in, and one of them put police hot on the trail of Held.

That information was further bolstered by a break that Amherst Police Senior Accident Investigator Scott A. Lawida obtained a day later.

Lawida had been calling on auto parts distributors and auto repair shops for two weeks. Last Thursday, he phoned Fuccillo Chevrolet on Grand Island and spoke with the parts department, inquiring if anyone had purchased front-end replacement parts for a Chevy Blazer.

Hours later, the parts department called back and informed him one of the parts in question had been ordered through Fuccillo. Police then contacted the buyer, Carruba's location on Niagara Falls Boulevard in Wheatfield, and obtained information that led to Held. His SUV was seized late that night.

Pierchala gave special credit to Lawida, who was brought into the investigation because he is considered an expert in the local auto parts distribution chain and auto repair shops.

Police supervisors cited Lawida and city accident investigators Martin Forero and Allan A. Kasprzak for working long days in the case and not giving up.

It was Kasprzak who studied debris from the front-end damage and was able to determine it came from a Trailblazer. An image from video captured on a city surveillance camera at Broadway and Lombard Street, seconds before the crash, also proved helpful.

Wednesday, Brown contacted Smith's family before a news conference announcing the charges against Held to let them know he had been charged.

"They have mixed emotions. Obviously, they are pleased with the arrest, but they are still grieving the loss of their mother," the mayor said.

Smith, a caregiver, mother and grandmother, was walking to her home on Sweet Avenue when she was struck and killed.

Her family members have said no one should have to die the way she did -- her body left on a city street after being struck.

Held's criminal record includes a conviction for attempted second-degree forgery, a felony, that led to a sentence of two to four years in prison in August 1999.

He was also convicted of attempted criminal possession of a forged instrument, another felony, and sentenced in May 2007 to 18 months to three years in prison.

Other convictions include unauthorized use of a vehicle, a felony; attempted criminal possession of marijuana; harassment; disorderly conduct; and operation of a motor vehicle by an unlicensed driver.

Held is scheduled to return Tuesday to Buffalo City Court in front of Judge James A.W. McLeod for further proceedings in the hit-run.

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Solving the case

Key moments from the investigation

• 6:15 a.m. Oct. 2: April M. Smith is hit by a green sport utility vehicle in the westbound lanes of the 1100 block of Broadway.
• 2:45 p.m. Oct. 19: Police and Smith's family, desperate for assistance, hold emotional news conference in Buffalo Police Headquarters seeking the public's help in finding the driver and his vehicle. Several hours later, a tipster contacts police with information on the driver of the vehicle.
• Last Thursday: Police call Fuccillo Chevrolet dealership on Grand Island asking if anyone has purchased front-end replacement parts for a Chevrolet Trailblazer from model years 2002 to 2006. Later that day, the parts department calls police back and states one of the parts in question was purchased by a Niagara County auto repair shop. That information leads to the seizure of Michael D. Held's 2005 Blazer that night.
• 6 p.m. Tuesday: Held, who has a lengthy arrest record, is called to Buffalo Police Headquarters and ends up confessing to the fatal hit-run accident. [We have his mug shot]
•  Wednesday: Buffalo and Amherst police hold news conference at headquarters to announce Held is charged with leaving the scene of a fatal hit-run accident, which took Smith's life.

News Staff Reporter Patrick Lakamp contributed to this report.

lmichel@buffnews.comnull