By YAAKOV LAPPIN
The misdemeanor assault case against New York businessman Morris Talansky, in which he is accused of attacking his elderly dentist, Dr. Leonard Barashick, last year, "appears to be collapsing," according to a New York magazine report published on Monday.
Talansky has denied attacking Barashick.
New York quoted a source well-acquainted with the investigation as saying, "There do not appear to be any witnesses who corroborate what the dentist says," adding that the dentist may have lost the confidence of the Nassau County district attorney.
"There were two people at the site of the incident who have given sworn affidavits that Morris Talansky never laid a hand on the dentist," a spokesman for Talansky was quoted as saying.
The report cites apparent discrepancies between the dentist's account of the physical injuries he allegedly sustained following the incident, as noted in his personal memoirs, and the police's description of the incident's aftermath.
"I almost had to have my legs amputated. I was in the hospital for two weeks," Barashick wrote in his diary.
But a Nassau County police lieutenant provided an entirely different picture, saying, "The dentist went on his own to the hospital several hours after the incident. He was treated for contusions and didn't check in."