Doctor who ‘intentionally drove Tesla off cliff to kill family’ moved from hospital to jail
Miraculously, the entire family survived the ordeal and were rescued by helicopter.
The man accused of purposely driving his Tesla off a cliff to kill his wife and two children has been discharged from the hospital and booked in jail after recovering from the 250-foot crash.
Dharmesh Patel, a 41-year-old doctor from Pasadena, California, was charged on Monday with three counts of attempted murder for the terrifying plunge down the Devil’s Slide Cliff.
Patel’s wife, seven-year-old daughter, and four-year-old son were all in the car when witnesses saw it make a sharp right turn to fall over the cliff on January 2.
Devil’s Slide Cliff is known as a particularly dangerous sudden drop off the side of US Highway 1 about 15 miles south of San Francisco. There have been over 30 deaths on the cliff since 1990, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.
Miraculously, the entire family survived the ordeal and were rescued by helicopter.
Dharmesh was hospitalized after the successful rescue and treated for ‘serious lower body injuries.’
His wife, Neha Patel, is still recovering from her serious injuries. According to prosecutors, Neha told the paramedics who rescued her ‘he intentionally tried to kill us.’
According to San Mateo County District Attorney Stephen Wagstaffe, prosecutors have not been able to interview her yet. But they say they have enough evidence to charge Dharmesh without her testimony.
‘We have concluded that the evidence supports the fact that he intentionally drove his vehicle over that cliff, thereby obviously endangering not just his wife and two children but his own life,’ Wagstaffe said on Monday.
Only two of the attempted murder charges carry with it the penalty for inflicting great bodily harm. This is due to the fact that Patel’s four-year-old son somehow escaped the ordeal with only a few bumps and bruises.
Patel is set to be arraigned in court on Thursday, February 9.
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