Man arrested after posing as doctor at Renown hospital in Reno; video shows past stunt

A man with a history of domestic violence and assault was arrested by police on Sunday after dressing up as a doctor at Renown Regional Medical Center.

Brandon McNearney, 31, was booked at Washoe County Jail following an incident at the medical center over the weekend, said Reno Police Department Officer Travis Warren.

“There was an individual that had been impersonating a doctor and was subsequently arrested,” Warren said. “There was no patient contact that we’re aware of.”

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McNearney, however, was not arrested for posing as a doctor, Warren said. Instead, the suspect was arrested on an unrelated charge of contempt from a previous incident in Elko. The Reno Gazette Journal received a tip on Monday morning about the incident.

“There is no law pertaining to falsely identifying or representing yourself as a doctor in general,” Warren said. “There’s a law against identifying yourself as a specific person but nothing against just throwing a stethoscope around your neck and walking around.”

Renown became aware of McNearney after a visitor “reported an odd conversation with a person in our cafeteria,” said Stacy Kendall, a spokeswoman for the hospital.

Renown notified police after security footage showed McNearney present at public areas of the medical center's campus. Renown also sent out an alert to area hospitals about McNearney, who was no longer at the hospital when he was arrested, Kendall said.

“Safety of patients and visitors is our top priority,” Kendall said. “We will continue to work with local authorities, keep staff informed and encourage patients and visitors to speak up if they notice anything out of the ordinary.”

A video posted on Facebook by the account named “Prince Denver Prince Of Prussia” appears to show McNearney walking inside a hospital while wearing scrubs with a name tag that reads “Dr Denver Prinz, Trauma Surgery, Plastic Surgery.”

The video was posted on July 1. Kendall says the Facebook video was not shot at a Renown facility.

Carson-Tahoe Health confirmed that the footage was shot at its regional medical center. McNearney, however, was getting treatment at the time, said Diane Rush, Carson-Tahoe’s director of marketing & public information.

“He came in as a patient and a nurse was escorting him to a room when he was taking that video and our director of the emergency department approached him and told him we have a policy of no photography in the patient area so he turned his phone off,” Rush said. “So he did come through but did come through our hospital but as a patient.”

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Reno Police Department declined to answer questions about McNearney’s mental state, saying such information is not public. McNearney’s recent arrest is not his first run-in with the law. On December 2008, McNearney was arrested in Elko after his mother told police that he threatened her with a knife, the Elko Daily Free Press reported. McNearney also attempted to hang himself at the Elko County Jail following his arrest.

In 2006 McNearney was involved in multiple aircraft-related mishaps, according to the Elko Daily Free Press. The paper reported that McNearney made two crash landings in as many days in Spring Creek, Nev., flying a plane owned by David A. Heidel of Spring Creek.

Reached Monday, Heidel said McNearney expressed interest in buying the aircraft and presented a credential stating he was qualified to fly a twin-engine craft. By the time it became apparent to Heidel that McNearney couldn’t fly, he had done thousands of dollars in damage to the plane, Heidel said. He added that he took McNearney’s credential and gave it to authorities.

“He said he was twin-engine trained and everything,” Heidel said. “He didn’t have a clue but he crashed it.”

“He will tell you any story and make you believe it. He is a big fibber,” Heidel added.