Charges against surgeon held for trial

Charges filed last year against a surgeon at Endless Mountains Health Systems after he allegedly pointed a handgun at a medical assistant in June 2016 are heading to trial.
Dr. Jose Enrique Nazar, 66, of Endwell, N.Y., faces misdemeanor counts of terroristic threats and simple assault in connection with the June 24, 2016 incident.
A preliminary hearing was held Monday, April 24 in front of Magisterial District Judge Jeffrey Hollister in Montrose District Court.
After hearing from one prosecution witness and one defense witness, Judge Hollister bound all of the charges over to the Court of Common Pleas for trial.
According to the affidavit of probable caused filed in Montrose District Court, two medical assistants and a licensed practical nurse (LPN) were working at the nurses’ station when Dr. Nazar exited a patient’s room and headed toward a dictation room in the hallway. The doctor mentioned he was going to the shooting range after he was done working.
Kaila Kays, who worked as a medical assistant at Endless Mountains Health Systems, at the time of the incident took the stand Monday.
She told the court that Dr. Nazar had pointed a gun at her face, and then related the exchange that led up to the incident.
“Dr. Nazar passed (by in the hall) and said he was going to the gun range to shoot anything that moves,” Kays said. “He came back with a case and took the gun out.”
According to the affidavit and also testimony provided Monday by Kays, Anna Ralston, one of the medical assistants present at the time, felt scared and walked away into another room.
Kays told the court she did not know if the gun was loaded or not, and said she was in “shock” from the incident.
“I didn’t know what to do,” she said, “I didn’t say anything.”
Kays said she continued working at EMHS until mid-July. She said the doctor had been suspended for 10 days. “Once he came back from suspension, I stopped working,” she said.
Defense attorney Christopher Powell Jr. called Eileen Myer to the stand. She told the court she had been in a nearby room when the alleged incident happened.
Myer told the court that she saw Dr. Nazar hold the gun flat in his palm and did not see him point it at Kays.
She also said that following the incident, Kays had come into the room and showed her a video on her cell phone. “She did not look anyway harmed, frightened or shocked,” Myer said.
In summation, Powell argued that the evidence did not rise to the level required to meet a terroristic threats charge.
He also took said that Kays had not made a report on her own – noting that both EMHS supervisor and police had asked her for a report.
Susquehanna County ADA William Urbanski argued threats need not be directly communicated and asked the court to look at the totality of the circumstances.