All four people in the car survived the crash. Photo / AP
All four people in the car survived the crash. Photo / AP
Warning: Distressing content
A US father who drove his wife and two children off a California cliff is making a bid for freedom, claiming a psychotic break was behind the horror crash.
Dharmesh Patel plunged over 75 metres down the Devil’s Slide cliff near Half Moon Bay on January 2, 2023.
His wife, 7-year-old daughter, and 4-year-old son were alongside him in the Tesla Model Y, all four surviving in what one official called an “absolute miracle”.
Patel initially told investigators he pulled off the road to check on a possibly flat tyre, but his wife told a different story.
As Neha Patel was being flown away from the site she told police: “He drove off. He’s depressed.
“He said he was going to drive off the cliff. He purposely drove off.”
Dharmesh Patel, who remains in jail, has now pleaded not guilty to three counts of attempted murder in a California court and is seeking mental health diversion, which would see him released, the Los Angeles Times reported.
A two-year treatment plan would follow and he would escape charges if he did not commit any further crimes or breach his conditions during that time.
Patel’s defence team called Dr Mark Patterson to testify to their client’s state of mind.
Patterson told the court Patel was suffering a psychotic break and believed he was acting to protect his family, the Daily Mail reported.
Dharmesh Patel is accused of trying to kill his wife and two young children by driving off a Northern California cliff. Photo / AP
“It was paranoid and kind of delusional thinking that he acted on at the time to protect his family from a worse fate,” Patterson said.
“He was concerned that his children were at risk of being kidnapped, possibly for sexual molestation. … There were concerns surrounding the explosion of fentanyl in this country and the war in Ukraine.”
He said he had diagnosed Patel with major depressive disorder and said his delusions had ceased while he was held behind bars.
“He still feels a lot of remorse,” Patterson said.
Dharmesh Patel and his family.
Prosecutors argued against diversion in the case, saying that Patel was instead suffering from schizoaffective disorder, casting doubts on the efficacy of the defence’s proposed treatment plan.
District Attorney Stephen Wagstaffe expressed concern that, under the plan, Patel will not be monitored except in his meetings with doctors.
“If he goes off his medication, how do you know? It’s not like being on probation or on parole. It’s purely the visits with the psychiatrist,” he said.
Crashes along Devil’s Slide, a steep, rocky and winding coastal area about 24km south of San Francisco, rarely end with survivors.
“We go there all the time for cars over the cliff and they never live. This was an absolute miracle,” said Brian Pottenger, a battalion chief for Coastside Fire Protection District.
“I don’t even like driving it,” Pottenger added. “It’s definitely a treacherous stretch of California.”
Emergency personnel at the site of the crash. Photo / AP
Witnesses called 911 around 10.15am on the morning of the crash and the crews set up a rope system from the highway to lower firefighters down the cliff, the battalion chief said at the time. At the same time, other firefighters watching the sedan through binoculars suddenly noticed movement — a sign that at least one person was still alive.
“Every one of us was shocked when we saw movement out of the front windshield,” Pottenger said.
The incident turned from what had been likely a recovery of bodies to a rescue operation that took several hours amid constant rain, heavy winds, slick roads and crashing waves. The doors were smashed against the cliff and jammed shut, so firefighters were forced to cut the victims out of the car using the so-called “jaws of life” tools.
This image from video provided by San Mateo County Sheriff's Office shows the Tesla at the base of the Devil's Slide cliff. Photo / AP
Crews pulled the children out of the back window and brought them up the cliff by hand in a rescue basket using the rope system. They were rushed to the hospital by ambulance with musculoskeletal injuries.
“They were more scared than they were hurt,” Pottenger said.
