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Statements by the wife of a Southern California doctor who is charged with intentionally driving his family off a Devil’s Slide cliff in a Tesla, along with witnesses accounts and video, led San Mateo County prosecutors to file attempted murder charges Monday against the man, prosecutors said.
San Mateo District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe told The Chronicle the witness statements from family and motorists driving behind Dharmesh Patel, along with video from the nearby Tom Lantos tunnels provided enough evidence to charge the father of two with three counts of attempted murder, one for each member of his family. Prosecutors included enhancements for domestic violence and causing great bodily injuries, according to charging documents.
“We do believe the evidence establishes the necessary intent to kill,” Wagstaffe said.
Patel is scheduled to be arraigned Monday afternoon in a Redwood City courtroom. He was released from the hospital Friday after healing enough from “serious lower body injuries,” and has been booked into San Mateo County jail. Patel has not spoken to investigators since the Jan. 2 crash, Wagstaffe said.
The lead prosecutor declined to go into details about what Patel’s wife said to paramedics as she was pulled out of the wreck by helicopter. Wagstaffe said his office was still looking into why Patel drove off the cliff.
“We’re looking into what led up to this. Was there depression or anything else?” Wagstaffe said. “It wasn’t just that he was trying to kill them, he was trying to kill himself too.”
CHP investigators are still examining the car, he said, but so far no problems have been determined.
“Nothing found yet,” Wagstaffe said.
Wagstaffe said the Tesla was not in self-driving mode at the time of the crash and they recovered no videos from the vehicle. All four family members were buckled into their seatbelts at the time.
Patel’s wife remains hospitalized, Wagstaffe said. One child suffered a serious injury, while the other escaped relatively unharmed, he said, calling the family’s survival from the crash “stunning.”
Patel, 40, of Pasadena, allegedly vaulted his car off a San Mateo County cliff, near Devil’s Slide, on Jan. 2 and California Highway Patrol officers arrested Patel the next day at Stanford hospital. The car landed on a rocky shoreline about 250 feet below, but all four family members – including his 41-year-old wife and 7- and 4-year-old kids survived the crash.
CHP investigators turned their case over to San Mateo County District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe on Jan. 6 and his office has spent more than three weeks firming up their case. Because Patel was hospitalized during that time, investigators had the luxury to take their time on the probe. Once he was transported to San Mateo County jail in Redwood City on Friday and booked, prosecutors had to file charges within two business days.
Firefighters responded to the crash around 10:50 a.m. Jan. 2 and found the crumpled car at the bottom of a steep cliff. Witnesses told officials the car was traveling southbound on Highway 1 near the Tom Lantos Tunnels when it suddenly drove off the shoulder and plummeted to the rocks below. Wagstaffe said the family had been in Northern California visiting family.
Photos of the wreck show the car landed on its wheels and on a dry portion of beach out of reach of crashing waves. Firefighters pulled the two children up the hill and a helicopter rescued the parents.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
Matthias Gafni is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: matthias.gafni@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @mgafni
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