Dharmesh A. Patel (San Mateo Sheriff’s Office) and the site where he allegedly drove his family off a cliff (California Highway Patrol)
A 41-year-old California doctor accused of intentionally driving his Tesla off a cliff with his wife and two young children inside — sending the vehicle plummeting nearly 300 feet before it crashed at the base of a bluff along the Pacific Coast Highway — will receive mental health treatment instead of going to trial.
San Mateo County Superior Court Judge Susan M. Jakubowski on Thursday found that Dharmesh A. Patel was suitable for mental health diversion due to him being diagnosed with major depressive disorder (MDD), court records reviewed by Law&Crime show. Patel requested the diversion last year, stating that MDD played a pivotal role in the crash.
Patel, who survived the wreck along with his family, was charged by the San Mateo County District Attorney’s Office with three counts of attempted first-degree murder. Should Patel complete the two-year program, the charges against him will be dismissed. He had previously pleaded not guilty.
Under California state law regarding diversion, adopted in 2018, a defendant may be eligible for the program if they have been diagnosed with a mental disorder identified in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, received treatment for the mental illness within the last five years, and can show that the mental disorder was a “significant factor in the commission of the offense.”
Defendants charged with murder, voluntary manslaughter, and rape are not eligible for the program.
According to a report from the New York Times, Patel will remain incarcerated for several weeks before he will be released to the care of his parents. Patel will then stay at their home in Belmont, California where he will be required to wear a GPS monitor and show up in court weekly. He is also reportedly required to remain in San Mateo County for the duration of his treatment and surrender his passport and driver’s license.
County District Attorney Stephen Wagstaffe told the Times that his office “vigorously opposed” Patel entering the diversion program, but said the decision was ultimately up to the court. He added that his office had backed a bill that would have eliminated the program for defendants charged with attempted murder, but that bill failed to pass.
As previously reported by Law&Crime, California Highway Patrol (CHP) officers responded to a call about a vehicle going over the side of a cliff on State Route 1 at approximately 10:50 a.m. on Monday, Jan. 2. The area, known as “Devil’s Slide,” is notorious for fatal car crashes.
Upon arriving at the scene, CHP officers and additional emergency rescue personnel located a white Tesla sedan “approximately 250 to 300 feet down the cliff,” the release states. Emergency personnel repelled down the face of the cliff to the vehicle on ropes and made contact with the vehicle’s four occupants, finding two adults and two children.
Firefighters brought the two children, ages 7 and 4, back up to the road safely on the ropes while the two adults were extricated and saved by an El Cerrito Fire Helicopter Rescue Technician who was lowered to the scene of the crash, according to a press release from CHP Golden Gate Division Air Operations. The dramatic rescue was caught on film, showing each of the adults being lifted from the base of the cliff on stretchers.
CHP investigators spent the evening “interviewing witnesses and gathering evidence from the scene” before concluding that Patel purposely steered the Tesla off the ravine. They clarified that the vehicle was not in self-driving mode before the crash and showed no signs of malfunctioning.
Patel’s wife, Neha Patel, told investigators that before careening off the cliff, her husband explicitly stated that he was going to drive off the cliff.
“He drove off. He’s depressed. He’s a doctor. He said he was going to drive off the cliff. He purposely drove off,” Neha Patel told CHP officers.
However, Neha Patel later testified that she did not want her husband to be prosecuted over the crash.
Patel is currently scheduled to appear in court again on July 1, records show.
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