An Oregon emergency room doctor is heading to prison after prosecutors say he hit a man with his car, drove around the victim’s body and continued on to work as the injured pedestrian fought for his life in the street.
Kenneth Kolarsky, 59, has been sentenced to 13 months behind bars after pleading guilty to attempted failure to perform the duties of a driver involving an injured person in the December 2024 hit-and-run that killed Nicolas Hernandez-Mendoza.
According to the Marion County District Attorney’s Office, the horrifying crash happened on Dec. 26, 2024, in Woodburn, Oregon, while Hernandez-Mendoza was crossing the street with a crosswalk safety light activated.
Prosecutors said Kolarsky slammed into the pedestrian with his vehicle, stopped briefly, then made a shocking decision.
“Upon striking Hernandez-Mendoza, the defendant stopped the vehicle, drove around his unconscious body in the roadway, and then fled the scene,” prosecutors said in a statement.
Hernandez-Mendoza was still alive when Kolarsky drove away.
Roughly 20 minutes later, investigators said Kolarsky walked into Silverton Hospital for his scheduled shift. At the time, he was reportedly working as a pediatric emergency medicine physician.
Authorities later determined the doctor had been driving from his Portland-area home to the hospital when the fatal crash occurred.
Meanwhile, Hernandez-Mendoza was rushed into surgery with devastating injuries, including fractures to his cervical vertebrae and pelvis. Doctors desperately tried to save him, but prosecutors said surgeons were unable to stop bleeding from his spleen.
He died during surgery.
The victim’s daughter, Kimberly Hernandez, said the loss became even more heartbreaking because her father died just two days before he was supposed to meet his newborn grandson for the first time.
“This is someone we’re supposed to trust and sometimes put our lives in his hands,” Kimberly told KPTV. “In that moment, I think he had my dad’s life in his hands but he just made the wrong choice. I could have my father right now.”
Investigators were eventually able to identify Kolarsky after reviewing surveillance footage from the area surrounding the crash scene.
Following Hernandez-Mendoza’s death, family members launched a GoFundMe campaign in hopes of returning his body to Mexico for burial.
Chief Deputy District Attorney Brendan Murphy blasted the doctor’s actions during sentencing.
“Regardless of why the accident occurred, to leave a scene after striking someone with your vehicle is a callous disregard for human life,” Murphy said. “That’s intolerable, and especially offensive when it is committed by a professional who takes an oath to ‘do no harm.’”
In addition to his prison sentence, Kolarsky was also ordered to serve 36 months of post-prison supervision after his release.
Is that a typo that he only got 13 months for killing a man?