Charges against California dad who drove family off cliff dropped after mental health treatment

Emergency personnel respond to a vehicle over the side of Highway 1 on Jan. 1, 2023, in San Mateo County, Calif., in this photo provided by the San Mateo County Sheriff's Office. (Sgt. Brian Moore / San Mateo County Sheriff's Office via AP)

SAN FRANCISCO — 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 (76-metre) 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.”

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.

In 2024, a different judge ruled Patel would receive mental health treatment instead of standing trial after his defence 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 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.

“We’ll try again in the future,” he said about the law. “We’re not giving up.”

Patel’s attorney, Joshua Bentley, did not immediately returned a message Tuesday seeking comment.

Patel, of Pasadena, was on a family road trip in the Bay Area at the time of the crash. He told a psychiatrist after his arrest that he was depressed and had delusions that his children, ages four and seven at the time, would be trafficked by kidnappers, Wagstaffe said.

Patel was in jail without bail until he was released in 2024 to complete a mental health outpatient treatment program. He then moved in with his parents in San Mateo County and was monitored through a GPS bracelet. He had to surrender his driver’s license and passport, and had to check with the court weekly.

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.

After the charges were dismissed Monday, Patel walked to the courtroom gallery where his wife was waiting and the two left the building together, the Mercury News reported.

Months after his arrest, the Medical Board of California barred Patel from practicing medicine while he faced attempted murder charges. The board said Tuesday that Patel surrendered his California medical licence in December.

Olga R. Rodriguez, The Associated Press

If you or someone you know is in crisis or struggling with mental illness, here are some resources that are available.

Canada Suicide Crisis Helpline (Call or text 988 or visit 988.ca)

Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (1-800-463-2338)

Kids Help Phone [phone])

If you need immediate assistance call 911 or go to the nearest hospital.