PROVIDENCE, R.I. – In June of 2023, thieves got away with half a million dollars from a Santander Bank on Federal Hill in Providence. Alexandra Leslie, investigative reporter at WPRI Channel 12, was the first to break the story of their arrest. 

Leslie never imagined getting a story like this. “That was probably the one that will always stick out in my mind just because of how exclusive it was. The amount of great video that our team got was just so good.” 

Before joining WPRI, Leslie made large strides in creating her career. An Ithaca College graduate in 2014, she learned the ropes as an multi-media journalist and producer for WVNY Channel 22 and WFFF Channel 44 news in Burlington, Vermont. Her interest in crime took her to WPRI, market 52 in the U.S, where her persistence landed her a spot on Target 12’s investigative team. 

Throughout her rapid rise in the newsroom, she’s had struggles. Leslie’s experience reporting through COVID was shaped by her condition, cystic fibrosis. As a woman, she faced the realities of gender discrimination in the field time and time again.