A California man is facing multiple charges after police accused him of intentionally driving off a cliff while his wife and two children were in his Tesla.
Police arrested 41-one-year-old Dharmesh Patel, a Pasadena resident, on child abuse and attempted murder charges, on Tuesday, saying that the car crash was done intentionally.
The Tesla dropped about 300 feet down to a rocky beach area known as the Devil’s Slide. Mark Andrews, the California Highway Patrol Spokesperson, said that all four occupants survived the crash.
The California Highway Patrol said that the family was taken to the hospital, having sustained serious injuries.
The family of four had been traveling south on Highway 1 between Montara and Pacifica on Monday morning when the Tesla veered off the road and plunged. As it went down, the car slammed into rock and flipped a few times before landing straight up just a few feet from the water.
The vehicle’s occupants reportedly included a 10-year-old girl and a nine-year-old boy.
The highway patrol was called regarding the crash at around 10:50 am on Monday. A dramatic rescue operation followed as soon as highway patrol officers and emergency responders arrived.
According to Cal Fire’s Coastside Protection District Battalion Chief, Brian Pottenger, the first responders found all occupants conscious, with the two children still secured into their car seats which had not sustained any damages. However, the four were trapped in the smashed sedan.
The two children were the first rescued, hoisted up in baskets using ropes. Their parents were later rescued, and the four were taken to the hospital to get treated for their injuries.
Investigators interviewed witnesses and gathered evidence from the scene throughout the night, and based on the evidence they collected, they determined that the crash was an intentional act.
According to the Highway Patrol, Patel will be taken to the San Mateo County jail as soon as he is released from the hospital. They said the crash is still an ongoing investigation and would not release any further information, urging more witnesses to come forward.
On Tuesday, the Highway Patrol said that even though they had not determined the Tesla’s driving mode at the time of the crash, they did not believe that the driving mode and the car’s high-tech features contributed to the crash.
Crashes at the Devil’s Slide usually prove fatal, with Pottenger saying that they go to the area for cars that have driven over the cliff, and the people never survive. He called the survival of the occupants an “absolute miracle.”
