The wife of a California radiologist accused of trying to kill his family by driving his Tesla off a cliff told cops he declared his intention to die moments before the accident, court documents recently reveal not sealed.
‘He left. He’s depressed,’ Neha Patel told a California Highway Patrol officer as she drove away from the crash site, according to an unsealed arrest warrant affidavit on Tuesday.
“He said he was going to come down from the cliff. He left deliberately,’ the woman added, saying her husband Dharmesh intentionally left a coastal cliff in San Mateo County on January 2 with the aim of killing her and their two children, aged four and seven. .
All four people in the car survived something an official called “an absolute miracle”.
Dharmesh Patel, 41, has pleaded not guilty to three counts of attempted murder and remains in custody without bond.
Dr. Dharmesh A. Patel declared his intention to die moments before driving down a cliff in a car carrying his wife and young children, his wife Neha Patel told cops afterwards.
All four people in the car survived in what one official called an “absolute miracle”. Dharmesh Patel, 41, pleaded not guilty to three counts of attempted murder
A preliminary hearing is scheduled for June 12, when a judge will decide if there is enough evidence to proceed with a trial.
Patel’s defense attorney, Josh Bentley, previously said his wife did not want her husband to be prosecuted, despite her comments at the scene saying the accident was not an accident.
Pasadena radiologist Patel said he drove off the road to check for a possibly flat tire, according to the warrant. The testimonies do not seem to support his account.
Patel was driving his white 2021 Tesla Model Y along the Pacific Coast Highway south of San Francisco when the car plunged several hundred feet off the cliff at Devil’s Slide. Firefighters had to pull the family out of the wreckage.
The warrant affidavit includes an interview with Patel as he recovered from serious lower body injuries.
In the interview, he said his wife was irritated shortly before the cliff plunge because she didn’t want to stop by her brother’s house in San Mateo County before returning home to the San Mateo area. Los Angeles.
He said he wasn’t really depressed but felt depressed because times were bad around the world, according to the affidavit.
“When asked if he felt suicidal, he replied, ‘You know, not as a plan, not usually,'” the affidavit said.
Patel is pictured in a photo after being booked into San Mateo County’s Maguire Correctional Facility, where he remains being held without bail
Dharmesh Patel, left, is accused of intentionally attempting to kill his wife and two young children when he left the Devil’s Slide cliff on January 2.
A San Mateo court judge has ruled that Patel can only have limited contact with his family, particularly his wife, as he remains in custody without bond.
Prosecutors are expected to use traffic camera video from the Lantos Tunnel as evidence that Patel, who works as a radiologist at Providence Holy Cross Medical Center in Pasadena, intentionally drove his Tesla Model Y off the cliff.
“There are cameras,” San Mateo County District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe said. “So we have a video showing the movement of the car.”
This video, he said, “clearly shows his car coming out of the tunnel, climbing the hill, making a right turn onto the road in a dirt area at the top.” And then a sharp right turn down and over the edge and down the cliff.
State prosecutors will also likely point to witness statements, as two people who allegedly drove behind Patel on Jan. 2 “watched what happened and were able to provide information about the lack of brake lights,” said said Wagstaffe. People.
Troops were dispatched around 10 a.m. on January 2 to report that a vehicle had veered off the cliff on Highway 1, about 20 miles south of San Francisco. The steep, rocky and winding coastal area is known as Devil’s Slide.
Fire Chief Brian Pottenger told reporters, “We go there all the time for the cars over the cliff and they never live.” It was an absolute miracle.
The car would initially roll several times. However, experts have since expressed doubts, arguing that the heavy batteries located in the floor of the Tesla would have prevented it from driving.
There was no guardrail where the sedan exited the cliff, officials said.
Patel was seen driving northbound at high speed on Highway 1 and is believed to have made a sharp turn before reaching the Tom Lantos Tunnel, where the Tesla veered off the road, first onto an area of land, then down the cliff.
Patel and his defense attorney Joshua Bentley in the courtroom during Patel’s legal proceedings in Redwood City in February
The wreckage of the Tesla is pictured at the foot of the cliff
Robin Johnson, who called 911 after seeing the accident, recalled: “Wow, he’s going extremely fast to take that exit. You’re not even supposed to go up there.
“And I can see in my rear view mirror that this car is going over the edge and going straight down.”
Around 30 to 50 rescuers arrived at the scene, where it was initially assumed that anyone in the car must be dead.
A helicopter and specialist teams were needed to rappel down the cliff to the car. It was only hours later that rescue teams discovered the four family members conscious and alert in the car.
The children were hauled out first, through a rear window, and hoisted up the cliff by hand in a rescue basket using a pulley.
The doctor and his wife were more seriously injured and had to be airlifted and taken directly to hospital.
Patel was arrested after California Highway Patrol investigators “developed probable cause to believe this incident was an intentional act,” the agency said.
In late January, he was incarcerated at San Mateo County’s Maguire Correctional Facility, where he is still being held without bond.
