The wife of a California radiologist accused of driving his family off a cliff in January told authorities that her husband was depressed and needed a psychological evaluation, according to a newly unsealed search warrant affidavit.
Neha Patel had told rescuers her husband, Dharmesh Patel, deliberately drove his Tesla off a 330-foot San Mateo County cliff on Jan. 2 with her and their two young children inside the vehicle, according to the documents obtained and cited by the San Francisco Chronicle. Authorities had said the Tesla plummeted more than 250 feet and flipped several times before landing on its wheels, jamming itself against the cliff just feet from the surf.
All four survived with mostly minor injuries and one official called the incident “an absolute miracle.”
“He drove off. He’s depressed,” Neha Patel, 41, told a California Highway Patrol officer, according to the Chronicle. “He said he was going to drive off the cliff. He purposely drove off.”
Dharmesh Patel has pleaded not guilty to three counts of attempted murder and is in custody without bail. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for June 12.
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Patel blamed the Tesla for the crash and said he pulled off the road to check on a potential flat tire, according to the warrant. But witness testimony did not appear to support his claim.
According to the warrant, Patel also said he was not really depressed but felt down because times were bad in the world.
“Asked if he felt suicidal, he said, ‘You know, not like a plan, not usually,'” the affidavit said.
Crashes on cliffside rarely have survivors
Patel was driving his white 2021 Tesla Model Y along the Pacific Coast Highway in San Mateo County, just south of San Francisco. The Tesla then dropped several hundred feet off the cliff at Devil’s Slide, a coastal area known for being steep, winding, and rocky.
Patel was in the vehicle with his 4-year-old son, 7-year-old daughter, and wife. Responding crews spent several hours trying to rescue the family amid harsh conditions and firefighters had to cut the family out of the vehicle.
Brian Pottenger, a battalion chief with Cal Fire, had said people rarely survived crashes along Devil’s Slide.
“We go there all the time for cars over the cliff and they never live. This was an absolute miracle,” Pottenger said.
The family was rushed to the hospital and later that same day, California Highway Patrol troopers arrested Patel.
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Contributing: Natalie Neysa Alund and Amanda Lee Myers, USA TODAY; The Associated Press