Dharmesh A. Patel and his family.Photo: Facebook
Two drivers whowitnessed a doctor’s Tesla plunge off a cliff in Californiasaid they didn’t see brake lights before the car went off the road.
Investigators spoke to two people who were allegedly driving behindDharmesh Patel"who watched what occurred and were able to provide information about lack of brake lights," San Mateo County District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe tells PEOPLE.
Patel, 42, was charged Monday with three counts of attempted murder in connection with theJan. 2 crashthat injured his 41-year-old wife Neha Patel and their children, a 7-year-old girl and a 4-year-old boy.
The crash occurred on a notorious stretch of highway known as the Devil’s Slide in San Mateo County, near Pacifica, along the famous Highway 1, which runs the length of California’s coastline. The Devil’s Slide has been the site of a number of fatalities over the past five decades.
Patel, a radiologist from Pasadena, was arrested after the crash at Stanford Hospital. He was released last Friday from the hospital and is now being held in San Mateo County jail.
In addition to the witnesses and the video, Patel’s wife Neha also allegedlymade a statementto paramedics after they had plunged down the 250-foot cliff that “he intentionally tried to kill us,” Wagstaffe says.
“She made that statement when asked, ‘What happened? What happened?'” Wagstaffe says. “‘He intentionally tried to kill us.’ … We have multiple people who heard her say that.”
Dharmesh Patel.Uncredited/AP/Shutterstock
Neha, who is still hospitalized, “didn’t get into detail. She was then quickly rendered medical aid and that was the statements from her,” Wagstaffe says.
Neha hasn’t been interviewed since then. “She has an attorney and we’re being advised that, through the attorney, that at this point while she’s hospitalized, she does not seek to submit to an interview,” says Wagstaffe.
One of the couple’s children was hospitalized with injuries after the crash. The other child sustained “bumps and bruises, but no injuries,” says Wagstaffe.
Sgt Brian Moore/AP/Shutterstock
“I am convinced that, on the evidence we have at this point, that it was an intentional act,” he says. “Now, again, multiple things could occur, and this happens in criminal cases where the family comes forward and they give us a description of some things that put a different light on it. Or the wife comes forward and says, ‘Let me tell you what occurred and to explain it.'”
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Adds Wagstaffe, “Or the CHP MAIT team comes back and says, ‘Look it, there was a mechanical difficulty with the vehicle.’ So, the facts, the whole story, is not out yet. It’s just the story we have right now, it certainly appears this was an intentional act to us and that’s why we filed the charges. But we’ll learn, we’ll find out hopefully more as time goes on.”
Patel has yet to enter a plea.
His attorney could not be reached for comment.
A hearing date is scheduled for Feb. 9.
source: people.com
