A man traveling with his family in a Tesla, who drove off a cliff and fell around 250 feet, has been released from the hospital and transferred to a local jail on suspicion of attempted murder and child abuse.
Dharmesh A. Patel, 41, is now being held without bail at the San Mateo County Jail over the crash, which left his wife and two young children injured.
“Patel could be arraigned Monday afternoon should criminal charges be filed,” the San Mateo District Attorney’s Office said.
Patel was arrested at the Stanford Hospital earlier this month.
According to the California Highway Patrol, Patel, a Pasadena resident and radiologist, was located after police were alerted of “a vehicle over the side of the cliff on SR-1” around 10:50 a.m. local time on Jan. 2.
A 41-year old woman, 7-year old girl, and 4-year old were also in the car with Patel. All of them were rushed to a local hospital with serious injuries after the car was found to have fallen somewhere between 250 and 300 feet off the northern California cliff known as the Devil’s Slide.
The California Highway Patrol previously shared it did not think the Telsa’s self-drive feature was a factor in the crash.
Authorities in California said earlier in the month that it was an “absolute miracle” that all passengers survived.
Brian Pottenger, a battalion chief for Coastside Fire Protection District/Cal Fire, explained that the car appeared to have “flipped several times” before landing on a beach on its wheels. Police saw “movement in the front seat” when they arrived at the scene.
“We knew we had at least one person that was alive,” he said. “We were actually very shocked.”
The DA stated they are investigating if mechanical problems could have contributed to the accident happening.
“Did the brakes fail? Were the brakes working? Were there any other mechanical malfunctions that would have led to him not being able to stop the vehicle?” DA Steve Wagstaffe said in an interview. “We’re having the car looked at from top to bottom.”
Days after the crash, neighbors described Patel, wife Neha and their two kids as an “idyllic” family at the end of their cul-de-sac with no indication of issues. Patel, who worked at Providence Holy Cross Medical Center, was often seen playing outside with his kids.
“Really I can’t believe it,” neighbor Sarah Walker said. “No one can believe it. They felt like newlyweds. The way they interact and look at each other, it just felt like they should be together.”
I would not be surprised if we find out that Chinese hackers took control of this family’s Tesla & forced it to crash. Of course Elon Musk & his liberal allies will do everything in their power to sweep this under the rug! Tesla vehicles should be outlawed on American roads! Cars that drive themselves are the work of the devil!!! And it’s even worse that they don’t use gas. Vehicles that don’t run on either gas or diesel or coal are ANTI-AMERICAN!!! And don’t even get me started about all the women that Tesla employs… Why can’t they just hire men??? Companies like Tesla are destroying this country!!!