US court drops charges against Indian-origin doctor who drove Tesla off 250-foot cliff with family

According to the Associated Press (AP), a judge in San Mateo County dismissed the case on Monday after 45-year-old Dharmesh Patel completed the treatment programme, which included care from a psychiatrist at Stanford University and sessions with a family therapist.

Patel had faced three counts of attempted murder after authorities alleged that he deliberately drove his Tesla off the cliff at Devil's Slide on the Pacific Coast Highway on January 2, 2023.

His wife, Neha Patel, and their two children, who were aged four and seven at the time, were travelling in the vehicle. 

San Mateo County District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe said the court was legally obligated to dismiss the charges after Patel fulfilled all the conditions of the diversion programme.

He explained that California's mental health diversion law requires criminal charges to be dismissed when eligible defendants successfully complete court-mandated treatment.

"If the person who's given mental health diversion follows the treatment plan, there's nothing that can be done, and at the end of the two years, he gets it wiped out of his record," Wagstaffe said, according to AP.

In 2024, a California judge ruled that Patel qualified for the state's mental health diversion programme after his legal team argued that he had been suffering from episodic major depression accompanied by hallucinations when the crash occurred.

The programme operates under a California law that came into effect in 2023, allowing eligible defendants diagnosed with mental illnesses to undergo treatment instead of facing a criminal trial.

During a court hearing in Redwood City, two psychiatrists testified that Patel experienced a psychotic breakdown before driving the vehicle off the cliff while his family was inside.

Court records further revealed that Patel later told a psychiatrist he had become delusional and believed his children would be kidnapped and trafficked.

Prosecutors objected to Patel's eligibility for the diversion programme, arguing that attempted murder charges should not qualify for such treatment.

"We'll try again in the future. We're not giving up," he said.

Following his arrest, Patel remained in custody without bail before being released in 2024 to begin outpatient mental health treatment.

He lived with his parents in San Mateo County under court-imposed conditions that included GPS monitoring, surrendering both his driver's licence and passport, and making weekly court reports.

As treatment progressed, the court gradually permitted him to reunite with his wife and children, who had relocated to the San Francisco Bay Area.

During earlier court proceedings, Neha Patel told the court that she had forgiven her husband and did not want prosecutors to pursue the case. She also said that their children missed their father and wanted him to return home.

According to The Mercury News, after the charges were formally dismissed, Patel walked to the courtroom gallery, where his wife was waiting, and the couple left the courthouse together.