The doctor and father suspected of purposefully driving his Tesla down a cliff in California with his family inside has been released from the hospital and taken to jail, while investigators investigate whether mechanical issues caused the disaster.
If the San Mateo District Attorney’s Office decides to charge him with attempted murder and child abuse, Dharmesh Patel, 41, who is being held without bail, might be arraigned Monday afternoon.
District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe stated last week that detectives are also scrutinizing the Tesla Model Y to rule out the potential of a mechanical malfunction.
The brakes failed? Did the brakes function? Were there any other mechanical failures that could have prevented him from stopping the vehicle?” According to Wagstaffe, the Los Angeles Times.
“We’re inspecting the vehicle from top to bottom,” he told the newspaper.
On January 2, Patel, a radiologist at Providence Holy Cross Medical Center in Los Angeles, is accused of purposefully driving his electric vehicle 250 feet off the renowned “Devil’s Slide” part of the Pacific Coast Highway.
The California Highway Patrol “developed probable cause to believe that this incident was an intentional act,” according to official statements.
The family, including Patel’s 41-year-old wife Neha, 7-year-old daughter, and 4-year-old son, had to be extricated by firefighters.
The Patels were characterized by their Pasadena neighbors as a “idyllic” family who resided at the end of a quiet cul-de-sac.
»Doctor jailed after allegedly deliberately driving Tesla off a cliff«