Charges Dropped Against Dad Who Drove Family Off Cliff

All charges against a radiologist accused of trying to kill his family in 2023 by driving his car off a cliff along the Northern California coast have been dismissed by a judge following his completion of a mental health program. Prosecutors charged Dharmesh Patel, 45, with attempted murder after he drove his Tesla off a 250-foot cliff along the Pacific Coast Highway known as "Devil's Slide," injuring his wife and two young children. All four survived the Jan. 2, 2023, crash in what one official called an "absolute miracle."

The AP reports a San Mateo County judge dismissed the charges on Monday after Patel completed a two-year mental health diversion program with a Stanford University psychiatrist and a family therapist this week, San Mateo County District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe said. "The judge was required by the law to dismiss the charges," Wagstaffe said. After the judge did so, Patel walked to the courtroom gallery where his wife was waiting and the two left the building together.

In 2024, a different judge ruled Patel would receive mental health treatment instead of standing trial after his defense attorneys argued he was going through episodic major depression with hallucinations when he drove his family off the cliff and qualified for mental health diversion under a California law that went into effect in 2023. "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.

San Mateo prosecutors unsuccessfully opposed diversion for Patel. Wagstaffe and other California district attorneys have argued that attempted murder should be excluded from eligibility for mental health diversion, and they are working with lawmakers to amend the law. Wagstaffe said Patel's wife and children also moved to the San Francisco Bay Area, and the court eventually allowed him to spend time with his family and take them out on drives. Patel's wife testified that she had forgiven her husband and did not want him to be prosecuted. She said her children missed their father and they wanted him back home.