The driver who fatally hit a pedestrian in an Oregon neighborhood before driving around the dying victim and continuing on to work was a local emergency room doctor. 

Kenneth Kolarsky, 59, of Portland, struck 44-year-old Nicolas 'Niko' Hernandez-Mendoza on the night of December 26, 2024, before fleeing the scene and leaving the father-of-one lying in the roadway with extensive injuries.

Damning surveillance footage showed Kolarsky walking into Legacy Silverton Medical Center just 20 minutes later, where he worked as a pediatric emergency medicine physician, according to KPTV News.

Hernandez-Mendoza succumbed to severe internal bleeding near his spine and was pronounced dead shortly after being rushed to the hospital.

On Tuesday, Kolarsky was sentenced to more than a year behind bars, weeks after pleading guilty to attempted failure to perform the duties of a driver to an injured person, according to the Marion County District Attorney's Office.

In his ruling, Marion Circuit Court Judge Courtland Geyer said the physician left 'a community member fallen and in the dark,' calling the act an 'absence of dignity.'

Judge Geyer ultimately ordered Kolarsky to serve 13 months in prison, followed by three years of post-prison supervision. 

'This is someone we're supposed to trust and sometimes put our lives in his hands, and in that moment, I think he had my dad's life in his hands but he just made the wrong choice,' Kimberly Hernandez, the victim's daughter, told KPTV.

'I could have my father right now,' she added.

On the evening after Christmas Day 2024, police responded to a hit-and-run report on Pacific Highway near Williams Avenue in Woodburn, where they found Hernandez-Mendoza unresponsive in the roadway.

It was later discovered that the father had activated the crosswalk safety lights as he stepped into the street, just seconds before investigators said he was struck by a car driven by Kolarsky. 

Prosecutors said the ER doctor had just left his Portland home in a light-colored SUV and was heading west to work when the fatal incident occurred. 

'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 en route to the hospital. 

The father was rushed to Salem Hospital, where doctors discovered a broken neck and pelvis, along with heavy internal bleeding from his spleen.

Despite efforts by doctors, Hernandez-Mendoza died during emergency surgery as they were unable to stop the bleeding. 

Detectives with the Woodburn Police Department combed through footage from dozens of nearby businesses and homes, eventually identifying the SUV's license plate, make and model.

A further investigation found that Kolarsky, a physician with Northwest Acute Care Specialists, arrived at the hospital to begin his shift less than half an hour after the hit-and-run.

Hernandez-Mendoza’s daughter told KPTV that her father was due to meet his grandson for the first time just two days before he was killed.

On May 17, 2025, the investigation came to a head when Kolarsky was arrested by Woodburn police outside of Legacy Silverton hospital.

His charges were limited to the hit-and-run, with the district attorney’s office stating there was 'insufficient evidence' to conclude the crash itself was criminal. 

Deputy District Attorney Tyler Hopkins, who prosecuted the case, also highlighted Kolarsky’s alleged attempt to repair his vehicle with cash following the incident.

Prosecutors also referenced the physician’s alleged 'dishonesty in the investigation,' though details of the claim were not specified. 

'Regardless of why the accident occurred, to leave a scene after striking someone with your vehicle is a callous disregard for human life,' Chief Deputy District Attorney Brendan Murphy said in a statement.

'That's intolerable, and especially offensive when it is committed by a professional who takes an oath to "do no harm,"' he added. 

Kolarsky’s alleged dishonesty was used as additional justification for an 18-month prison sentence, according to the district attorney’s office.

'The defendant had no prior criminal history and had a presumptive prison sentence of 16-18 months in the Department of Corrections,' the statement read. 

Legacy Silverton Medical Center contracts with Northwest Acute Care Specialists to staff its emergency rooms. 

At the time of the crash, the NACS president confirmed Kolarsky had been placed on administrative leave pending the investigation’s outcome, according to KGW 8 News.

Meanwhile, Hernandez-Mendoza’s daughter launched a GoFundMe page to help bring his body back to his hometown in Mexico. 

'We were able to get my father to the place where he was born and at least have his parents, my grandparents, see him one last time,' she told KPTV. 

She said that from morning until night, there was always joyful music playing throughout the home.

'I want my father to be remembered for his love of the arts,' she added.

Kolarsky has since been released from the Marion County Jail and is scheduled to be arraigned on June 3.