Newport TV doctor denies he threatened to kill H.B. man

A Newport Beach physician who is a panelist on the daytime TV talk show “The Doctors” denied a Huntington Beach man’s allegation that he threatened to kill him.

Peter Scalisi filed a report with Huntington Beach police in December, claiming that Dr. James Sears threatened him after Scalisi picked up his ex-girlfriend, who is dating Sears, according to TMZ. The entertainment news outlet reported that Sears’ girlfriend had called Scalisi to pick her up from Sears’ home in Newport after she began to “feel uneasy.”

Scalisi alleged that Sears drove to his home in Huntington Beach at about 9:50 p.m. Dec. 10 and yelled, “I’m going to kill you,” according to Huntington Beach police Officer Jennifer Marlatt.

Marlatt said she could not provide other details because it is an open case.

Sears and his attorney, Michael Wippler, denied Scalisi’s allegations and a TMZ report that Sears is leaving “The Doctors.”

“I want to make it clear that the allegations made against me are complete fabrications and contrary to who I am both personally and professionally,” Sears posted on his Facebook page Monday. “I never threatened to kill anyone, nor am I resigning from ‘The Doctors.’”

The program, which won an Emmy for Outstanding Talk Show in 2010, features Sears and other doctors discussing health topics and answering questions from viewers. Sears is a pediatrician at his family’s medical practice in Capistrano Beach.

Scalisi, a lawyer, was placed on three years’ probation by the State Bar of California effective in February 2013 after he was convicted of alcohol-related reckless driving in Riverside and for failing to respond to and promptly pay back a client, according to State Bar records.

— Anthony Clark Carpio

Twitter: @acocarpio