An emergency room doctor has been sentenced to a year in prison for punching a man, driving around his unconscious body and then walking into work 20 minutes later.
PORTLAND, Ore. — A Portland doctor was charged Tuesday with committing a crime. Hit-and-run crash proves deadly December 2024.
A Marion County judge sentenced 59-year-old Kenneth Kolarsky to 13 months in prison and three years of post-release supervision after pleading guilty to failing to perform his duties as a driver of an injured person.
Kolaski was driving to work on Dec. 26 when he hit Nicholas Hernandez-Mendoza as he crossed the Northern Pacific Highway near Williams Boulevard in Woodburn. Hernandez-Mendoza activated his crosswalk safety lights, designed to alert drivers to pedestrians on the roadway, before he was struck.
After striking Hernandez-Mendoza, Koralski stopped, drove around his unconscious body and left the scene, the prosecutor’s office said.
Police found Hernandez-Mendoza on the road. He was taken to Salem Hospital where he died during emergency surgery. He suffered a fractured cervical vertebrae and a fractured pelvis. Surgeons were unable to stop the internal bleeding in his spleen.
Investigators determined that about 20 minutes after attacking Hernandez-Mendoza, Kolaski walked into the old Silverton Medical Center hospital, where he worked as an emergency room physician at Northwest Urgent Care Specialists.
“Regardless of the cause of the accident, leaving the scene after hitting someone with your vehicle shows a callous disregard for human life,” said Chief Deputy Prosecutor Brendan Murphy. “This is intolerable, especially when committed by professionals who are sworn to ‘do no harm.'”
Woodburn police arrested Kolaski on May 17, 2025. The prosecutor’s office said the charges were limited to the hit-and-run because there was “insufficient evidence” to determine whether the accident itself constituted a crime.
In sentencing, Judge Courtland Gale said Kolarski acted “without dignity” by leaving “a member of the community stumbling into the dark,” according to the prosecutor’s office.
Legacy Silverton Medical Center contracts with NACS to staff its emergency room. At the time of the incident, the NACS president said Kolaski had been placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation.
