EAST MEADOW, NY (TIP): A Nassau University Medical Center surgeon was charged with felony strangulation and assault Tuesday, January 23 after allegedly threatening the life of a nurse.

According to a criminal complaint, Venkatesh Sasthakonar – a weight loss surgeon and the head of the bariatric surgery department at NUMC – was upset at a 51-year-old nurse for administering an injection into one of his patients at the wrong time.

According to court documents, Sasthakonar then came up behind the nurse, took out an elastic cord from his sweatshirt and wrapped it around her neck. The complaint said this caused the nurse to gasp for air and caused substantial pain. It goes on to say that Sasthakonar said, “I could kill you for this.”

Sasthakonar’s attorney Melvyn Roth says the whole situation was blown out of proportion and that the two had been friends for 10 years.

“This shouldn’t be a criminal case. There was no intent to harm this nurse,” Roth told News 12.

Roth says that his client did put the cord around the nurse’s neck but did so in joking manner.

“It didn’t even touch the skin. That’s our version of events. He, in no way, meant to harm her. She was not hurt at all,” said Roth.

NUMC says no patient was ever at risk at the time of the alleged incident.

Sasthakonar has been suspended until further notice. He was released on bail on Tuesday, January 23.

The nurse says she suffered pain in her neck because of the incident.