An Indian-American doctor, Dharmesh Patel, who drove his Tesla off a cliff in the US with his wife and two children inside in an alleged attempt to murder them, will not be serving any jail time for now and will receive mental health treatment.
Patel, a radiologist in California, drove his car, carrying his wife Neha and their two children aged 7 and 4, off a cliff last year after suffering from a psychotic breakdown, psychologists told the court. They stated that Mr. Patel believed his children were at risk of being sex trafficked, which led him to crash the car.
After driving off the cliff, the Tesla fell over 250 feet. Miraculously, the family survived and was rescued from the wreckage. Following the rescue, his wife admitted that he intentionally drove the car off the cliff but later testified that she did not want her husband prosecuted.
Psychologists diagnosed Mr. Patel with schizoaffective disorder and major depressive disorder, noting that he had been experiencing paranoid and delusional thoughts, believing his children were at risk of being kidnapped and sexually molested. “He had been hearing footsteps and thought he was being followed in the weeks before the crash. It was paranoid and kind of delusional thinking that he acted on at the time to protect his family from a worse fate,” a psychologist told the court.
On Thursday, a US court determined that Mr. Patel was eligible for a ‘mental health diversion,’ which allows an accused with mental illness who has committed a crime to receive mental health treatment instead of serving jail time. The law states that this provision can only be considered if the illness played a significant role in the crime.
Superior Court Judge Susan M. Jakubowski deemed Mr. Patel eligible for the program based on the doctors’ diagnosis and ordered his release to his parents in California. He will be monitored with GPS, report to the court once a week, and is prohibited from traveling outside the country. Additionally, he must surrender his driving license and passport.
