The site where Dharmesh Patel allegedly drove his family off of a cliff (via 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 — is now seeking placement in a mental health diversion program rather than being sent to prison.
Dharmesh A. Patel appeared in court on Friday where his attorneys argued that he had previously been diagnosed with major depressive disorder (MDD) and that his mental health played a pivotal role in the death-defying car crash, Pasadena Now reported.
Patel, who miraculously survived the wreck along with his family, has been charged by the San Mateo County District Attorney's Office with three counts of attempted first-degree murder. Patel has pleaded not guilty, claiming that he was pulling off of the road to check on the air pressure in one of the tires, which he believed may have been going flat.
Under California state law, a defendant may be eligible for the diversion 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, though attempted murder is not explicitly excluded from the list. After completion of the program, the presiding judge can still decide to reinstate the criminal charges as initially filed.
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 of the cliff, her husband explicitly stated that he was going to drive off of the cliff, according to a probable cause affidavit obtained by the San Francisco Chronicle.
"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 reportedly told CHP officers.
In February, Patel's attorney Josh Bentley told a judge that Neha Patel does not wish to see her husband prosecuted for his actions, the Chronicle reported. Bentley did not immediately respond to a message from Law&Crime seeking comment.
The court slated another hearing at the end of July where Patel's petition will be decided.
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