A new mugshot shows Dharmesh Patel, a California doctor accused of intentionally driving a Tesla off a cliff on January 2 with his wife and two children inside the vehicle, with a bloodshot eye after being transported to a San Mateo County hospital jail.
Patel, 41, of Pasadena, is charged with three counts of attempted attempted first degree murderas well as improvements for serious bodily injury and domestic abuse, San Mateo District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe said during a news conference Monday.
“The evidence supports that he intentionally drove that vehicle off that cliff,” San Mateo County District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe said during a news conference Monday after Patel’s initial court hearing.
Patel will plead guilty on February 9 and is currently being held without bail.
CALIFORNIA DOCTOR WHO DROVE TESLA OFF THE CLIFF WITH WIFE, 2 CHILDREN IN JAIL WITHOUT BAIL: REPORT
This undated photo provided by the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office shows Dharmesh Patel. Patel, the driver of a car that plunged off a treacherous cliff in Northern California seriously injuring himself, his wife and his two young children, has been charged with attempted murder.
(San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office via AP)
“We hope to learn more when hopefully the wife is … available for an interview and willing to speak with us at that time,” Wagstaffe added.
CALIFORNIA MAN INTENTIONALLY DROVE TESLA OFF THE CLIFF WITH ANOTHER ADULT, 2 CHILDREN IN CAR: AUTHORITIES
California Highway Patrol (CHP) Officer Mark Andrew said Jan. 3 that he did not believe the Tesla was on autopilot at the time of the crash on Devil’s Slide cliff, south of the Tom Lantos Tunnels on State Highway 1.
Dr. Dharmesh A. Patel is charged with intentionally throwing his wife and two children off a cliff. All four miraculously survived but remain hospitalized.
(Facebook)
First responders who arrived at the scene on January 2 noticed the white Tesla about 250 feet down the cliff and noted that the victims were still moving around inside the vehicle.
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Rescuers were able to get the two children, a 7-year-old girl and a 4-year-old boy with musculoskeletal injuries, out of the vehicle using a “jaws of life” tool and removed Patel and his wife from the vehicle’s windows.
This image from video provided by the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office shows a Tesla vehicle plunged off a cliff in Northern California along the Pacific Coast Highway Monday, Jan. 2, 2023, near a area known as Devil’s Slide.
(San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office via AP)
“We go there all the time to get cars off the cliff, and they never survive. This was an absolute miracle,” Brian Pottenger, Coastside/Cal Fire Protection District battalion chief, said after the accident.
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District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe told the Los Angeles Times that authorities are “going through the car from top to bottom” to determine if the car may have experienced any mechanical problems during the accident.
The driver of the car that plunged 250 feet off a cliff in Northern California, injuring his two young children and his wife, has been released from the hospital and jailed on suspicion of attempted murder and child abuse.
(Sergeant Brian Moore/San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office)
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California officials believe Patel’s actions were “intentional.”
Authorities are asking for additional witnesses to call the CHP-San Francisco area at 415-557-1094.
Associated Press and Elizabeth Pritchett of Fox News contributed to this report.
