A California doctor accused of purposefully driving his Tesla over a cliff with his family inside has been charged with attempted murder.
Neha Patel was still conscious when first responders reached her at the bottom of a cliff off Devil’s Slide, a treacherous stretch of Highway 1 about 15 miles south of San Francisco, San Mateo County District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe told the Los Angeles Times. She immediately started “screaming,” telling authorities her husband, Dharmesh Patel, “intentionally tried to kill” her and their two children, a 7-year-old girl and 4-year-old boy.
“She said very simply this was not an accident,” Wagstaffe explained.
Officials have said it is an “absolute miracle” that all four family members survived the 250-foot plunge the night of Jan. 2. In the end, rescue crews were able to free the two children from the Tesla Model Y using a “jaws of life” tool and pulled Patel and his wife from its windows.
Dharmesh Patel, who was hospitalized in wake of the crash, was transferred from a medical facility on Monday to a San Mateo County jail. He’s facing charges including first-degree attempted murder and child abuse, as well as enhancements for great bodily injury and domestic abuse.
His wife, Neha, who suffered serious, unspecified injuries, has since been released from the hospital. She has yet to speak with investigators, but Wagstaffe said her screams on the scene were pivotal in charges being filed against her husband.
Both of their children have also been released from the hospital in wake of the incident.
