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Wife of California doctor who drove Tesla off cliff with her and their kids in failed murder-suicide bid, recants, pleads with prosecutors – ‘Drop charges because we need him home,’ blames ‘mental health episode’ for plunge

&Tab;&Tab;<div class&equals;"wpcnt">&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<div class&equals;"wpa">&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<span class&equals;"wpa-about">Advertisements<&sol;span>&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<div class&equals;"u top&lowbar;amp">&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<amp-ad width&equals;"300" height&equals;"265"&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab; type&equals;"pubmine"&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab; data-siteid&equals;"109460728"&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab; data-section&equals;"1">&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;<&sol;amp-ad>&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<&sol;div>&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<&sol;div>&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;<&sol;div>&NewLine;<h1 class&equals;"wp-block-heading has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-6e8aa1375cf68df1001806e8d9f2cf76" style&equals;"color&colon;&num;332424&semi;font-size&colon;14px"><strong><strong><strong><strong><strong>&&num;8216&semi;He intentionally tried to kill us’ <strong><strong><strong><strong>Neha Patel&comma;<&sol;strong><&sol;strong><&sol;strong><&sol;strong><&sol;strong><&sol;strong><&sol;strong><&sol;strong> <strong><strong><strong><strong>told paramedics on Jan 2&comma; 2023<strong><strong><strong><strong>&comma; <&sol;strong><&sol;strong><&sol;strong><&sol;strong>as they rescued her and her two children from a car wreck that her doctor husband deliberately drove them off a cliff <&sol;strong><&sol;strong><&sol;strong><&sol;strong><&sol;strong><&sol;h1>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<h1 class&equals;"wp-block-heading has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-f59f0b25e2eb67718973392d986c3bd3" style&equals;"color&colon;&num;332424&semi;font-size&colon;14px"><strong><strong><strong><strong><strong>Neha Patel&comma; 42&comma; Thursday urged prosecutors to drop criminal prosecution of husband&comma; <strong><strong><strong><strong><strong><strong>Dharmesh P<&sol;strong><&sol;strong><&sol;strong><&sol;strong><&sol;strong><&sol;strong><&sol;strong><&sol;strong><&sol;strong><&sol;strong>atel&comma; 43&comma; because &&num;8216&semi;we need him home&&num;8217&semi; <&sol;strong><&sol;h1>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<h1 class&equals;"wp-block-heading has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-76f1215fbdf2751bb7688538a7204a53" style&equals;"color&colon;&num;332424&semi;font-size&colon;14px"><strong>She blamed the crash on &&num;8216&semi;a mental health episode beyond understanding&&num;8217&semi; <&sol;strong><&sol;h1>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<h1 class&equals;"wp-block-heading has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-40e21f7d6a5a33275b27780227a79370" style&equals;"color&colon;&num;332424&semi;font-size&colon;14px"><strong>Patel accus<strong>ed of trying to kill himself&comma; his wife and kids aged four and seven&comma; is facing first degree attempted murder and child abuse <&sol;strong><&sol;strong><&sol;h1>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<figure class&equals;"wp-block-image size-full is-resized"><img src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;konniemoments&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2024&sol;05&sol;Dharmesh-Patel-with-wife-Neha-Patel-and-their-children-3&period;png" alt&equals;"" class&equals;"wp-image-461435" style&equals;"width&colon;837px&semi;height&colon;auto"&sol;><&sol;figure>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p class&equals;"has-small-font-size"><strong>Neha Patel &lbrack;right&rsqb;&comma; has urged California prosecutors to drop the criminal charges against her doctor husband Dharmesh&comma; &lbrack;left&rsqb;&comma; who drove her and their kids off cliff in a failed murder-suicide bid on January 2&comma; 2023<&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p>The wife of a California doctor who drove her and his kids off a cliff in a failed murder-suicide bid has begged prosecutors to drop the charges&comma; in contrast to her assertion at the time&period; &OpenCurlyQuote;He intentionally tried to kill us’ Neha Patel told paramedics at the time&comma; as they rescued her and her two children from a car wreck that her doctor husband Dharmesh Patel deliberately drove off a cliff withe whole family inside&period;<br>The Pasadena doctor was charged with the attempted murder of his wife and their two young children by deliberately driving the family Tesla off the side of a 250ft cliff&period;<br>Now under a ban&comma; Dharmesh A&period; Patel&comma; 43&comma; a radiologist at Providence Holy Cross Medical Center in Pasadena&comma; is accused of intentionally driving his white Tesla Model Y off a cliff known as Devil’s Slide on January 2&comma; 2023&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<figure class&equals;"wp-block-image size-full is-resized"><img src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;konniemoments&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2024&sol;05&sol;Dharmesh-Patel-1&period;png" alt&equals;"" class&equals;"wp-image-461437" style&equals;"width&colon;845px&semi;height&colon;auto"&sol;><&sol;figure>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p class&equals;"has-small-font-size"><strong>Dharmesh Patel&comma; 43&comma; accused of purposefully driving his Tesla off a 250ft Devil Slide&&num;8217&semi;s cliff thought he was protecting his family&comma; a psychologist testified&period; His wife blamed the crash on &&num;8216&semi;a mental health episode beyond understanding&period;&&num;8217&semi; <&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p>In a fresh twist&comma; the defendant&&num;8217&semi;s wife&comma; Neha Patel spoke for the first time in court since the January 2&comma; 2023&comma; incident in which her husband purposely drove off a massive cliff on the Pacific Coast Highway south of San Francisco&comma; plunging down a precipice&period; <br>Neha along with their then-four-year-old son and daughter&comma; then 7&comma; were in the car&period; The entire family miraculously survived the crash but were left seriously injured&period; <br>The driver himself sustained the most serious injuries&period; Neha sustained less serious injuries&period; Their two children then aged four and seven&comma; also survived with relatively minor injuries&period;<br>The <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;mercurynews&period;com&sol;2024&sol;05&sol;02&sol;we-need-him-in-our-life-wife-of-southern-california-radiologist-accused-of-driving-family-off-devils-slide-cliff-speaks-in-court-for-first-time&sol;" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"noreferrer noopener">Mercury News<&sol;a> reports Neha Thursday&comma; urging prosecutors to drop the criminal charges against her husband&period; She was seeking her husband&&num;8217&semi;s release under the condition that he participated in a mental health diversion program&period; <br>&&num;8216&semi;We need him in our life&comma;&&num;8217&semi; Patel&&num;8217&semi;s wife told the court on Thursday&comma; before blaming the crash on &&num;8216&semi;a mental health episode beyond any of our understanding or control&&num;8217&semi;&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<figure class&equals;"wp-block-image size-full is-resized"><img src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;konniemoments&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2024&sol;05&sol;image-77&period;webp" alt&equals;"" class&equals;"wp-image-461451" style&equals;"width&colon;845px&semi;height&colon;auto"&sol;><&sol;figure>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p class&equals;"has-small-font-size">&&num;8216&semi;<strong>Considering the huge drop from the highway to the bottom of the cliff where the Tesla came to a stop the survival of the family is considered &OpenCurlyQuote;miraculous’&period; However&comma; Patel&&num;8217&semi;s wife now says his return will not only &&num;8216&semi;restore him back to himself&comma; but it will restore the health and wellness of our entire family&&num;8217&semi; <&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p>He&&num;8217&semi;s remained incarcerated since&period;&comma; but his wife in a recent appeal for clemency has promised that &&num;8216&semi;things will be different&&num;8217&semi; if her husband is allowed to return home to their family&period;<br>Patel&&num;8217&semi;s wife said his return will not only &&num;8216&semi;restore him back to himself&comma; but it will restore the health and wellness of our entire family&period;&&num;8217&semi; <br>Emphasizing the importance of the &&num;8216&semi;health and safety&&num;8217&semi; of her family&comma; she said that she &&num;8216&semi;will not hesitate to seek help when needed&period;&&num;8217&semi; <br>&&num;8216&semi;We need — we need him in our life&comma;&&num;8217&semi; Patel&&num;8217&semi;s wife added&period; &&num;8216&semi;We&&num;8217&semi;re not a family without him&period;&&num;8217&semi;<br>If the plan is approved&comma; Patel&&num;8217&semi;s care would be in the hands of Stanford psychiatric clinician&comma; James Armontrout&period; <br>The medical treatment would entail group and individual therapy sessions&comma; as well as sessions with a psychotherapist&period;<br>But the San Mateo County prosecutors&comma; are opposing the request&comma; and have filed motions against it&period; <&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<figure class&equals;"wp-block-image size-full is-resized"><img src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;konniemoments&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2024&sol;05&sol;Dharmesh-Arvind-and-Neha-Patel-with-their-children1&period;png" alt&equals;"" class&equals;"wp-image-461436" style&equals;"width&colon;842px&semi;height&colon;auto"&sol;><&sol;figure>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p class&equals;"has-small-font-size"><strong>The Pasadena radiologist&&num;8217&semi;s children&comma; aged four and seven at the time&comma; and his wife Neha Patel &lbrack;image&colon; Family portrait&rsqb;&comma; who were in the car&comma; by an &&num;8216&semi;absolute miracle&&num;8217&semi;&comma; all survived without life altering injuries<&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<figure class&equals;"wp-block-image size-full is-resized"><img src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;konniemoments&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2024&sol;05&sol;Dharmesh-Patel-in-orange-regulation-uniform-2&period;png" alt&equals;"" class&equals;"wp-image-461438" style&equals;"width&colon;843px&semi;height&colon;auto"&sol;><&sol;figure>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p class&equals;"has-small-font-size"><strong>Dharmesh Patel &lbrack;photo&comma; circa February 2023&rsqb;&comma; stands in an orange jumpsuit in a San Mateo County courtroom&period; has been incarcerated since Jan 2023 <&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p>Expressing the impact of her husband&&num;8217&semi;s absence of her and her children&comma; Patel&&num;8217&semi;s wife said&comma; her son is asking what&&num;8217&semi;s &&num;8216&semi;taking so long&&num;8217&semi; for her father&&num;8217&semi;s return&period; <br>&&num;8216&semi;He wished daddy would magically appear on St&period; Patrick&&num;8217&semi;s Day when he saw a rainbow&comma;&&num;8217&semi;  she said&period; &&num;8216&semi;Seeing my kids in emotional pain is one of the hardest things I&&num;8217&semi;ve had to endure&period;&&num;8217&semi; <br>Calling him a &&num;8216&semi;kind and altruistic&&num;8217&semi; man&comma; she said Patel &&num;8216&semi;has been my best friend for more than 25 years&period;&&num;8217&semi;<br>In April&comma; it was reported that despite Neha&&num;8217&semi;s insistence that her husband intentionally drove their family off a cliff&comma; Patel&&num;8217&semi;s defense attorney said that she did not want her husband prosecuted&period;<br>The lawyer&&num;8217&semi;s statements were rebuffed by Wagstaffe who said that Neha&&num;8217&semi;s statements following the crash support the attempted murder charges&period;<br>&&num;8216&semi;She said very simply this was not an accident&period; We do believe the evidence establishes the necessary intent to kill&comma;&&num;8217&semi; Wagstaffe told the San Francisco Chronicle&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<figure class&equals;"wp-block-image size-full is-resized"><img src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;konniemoments&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2024&sol;05&sol;Dharmesh-Patels-circled-at-the-bottom-of-a-steep-cliff-off-a-highway-in-San-Mateo-County-California&period;webp" alt&equals;"" class&equals;"wp-image-461440" style&equals;"width&colon;842px&semi;height&colon;auto"&sol;><&sol;figure>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p class&equals;"has-small-font-size"><strong>The wreckage of the Tesla is pictured at the bottom of the cliff&period; Despite Neha&&num;8217&semi;s insistence that her husband intentionally drove their family off a cliff&comma; Patel&&num;8217&semi;s defense say she does not want her husband prosecuted&comma; but prosecutors said her statements following the crash support the attempted murder charges<&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p>Court records show Neha&comma; now 42&comma; told a California Highway Patrol officer that&comma; &&num;8216&semi;He&&num;8217&semi;s a doctor&period; He said he was going to drive off the cliff&period; He purposely drove off&period;&&num;8217&semi;<br>Witnesses backed that story up and said that they did not see the car attempt to stop as it flew off the cliffside and down onto a rocky beach&period;<br>After careening down the sheer cliff face the Tesla truck landed on it&&num;8217&semi;s four wheels&period; Rescuers rappelled down below to rescue Patel who survived with only minor injuries to his leg and foot while Neha had more serious injuries from the crash&period;<br>The couple&&num;8217&semi;s seven-year-old son was seriously injured and their four-year-old daughter made it out with just bruises&period; Both children were released from the hospital within weeks&period; <br>Patel initially claimed that he was not guilty and that his Tesla had been experiencing tire issues on the day of the crash &&num;8211&semi; that he&&num;8217&semi;d stopped three times at gas stations to put air in the tires&comma; yet the tire pressure light turned on just before it went off the cliff&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<figure class&equals;"wp-block-image size-full is-resized"><img src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;konniemoments&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2024&sol;05&sol;image-79&period;webp" alt&equals;"" class&equals;"wp-image-461441" style&equals;"width&colon;837px&semi;height&colon;auto"&sol;><&sol;figure>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p class&equals;"has-small-font-size"><strong>Six months after the horrifying crash in June 2023&comma; Dr Dharmesh Patel was banned from practicing medicine&period; The Medical Board called the 42-year-old &&num;8216&semi;an alarming danger to the public&&num;8217&semi; <&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<figure class&equals;"wp-block-image size-full is-resized"><img src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;konniemoments&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2024&sol;05&sol;Patel-familys-Tesla-after-the-crash-1&period;webp" alt&equals;"" class&equals;"wp-image-461447" style&equals;"width&colon;838px&semi;height&colon;auto"&sol;><&sol;figure>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p class&equals;"has-small-font-size"><strong>In the light of the destruction wrought on the Tesla Model Y &lbrack;photo&rsqb;&comma; that plunged to the water’s edge landing on all four wheels&comma; responders marveled at the miracle of the family of four strapped in a smashed up vehicle without sustaining life-threatening injuries<&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p>Six months later&comma; in June 2023&comma; the 42-year-old doctor was banned from practicing medicine&period; <br>Described as &&num;8216&semi;an alarming danger to the public&&num;8217&semi; by The Medical Board&comma; regulators argued that the ban was necessary because Patel had an &&num;8216&semi;impairment of cognitive abilities needed to safely practice medicine&period;&&num;8217&semi;<br>In a statement issued to the Mercury News&comma; the medical board said Patel could not practice &&num;8216&semi;under any circumstances&&num;8217&semi; with the case still open&period; <br>&&num;8216&semi;The prohibition on practicing medicine will continue until the order is modified by the court or the criminal case against him concludes&comma;&&num;8217&semi; the statement read&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<figure class&equals;"wp-block-image size-full is-resized"><img src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;konniemoments&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2024&sol;05&sol;Dharmesh-Arvind-Patels-crashed-Tesla-16&period;webp" alt&equals;"" class&equals;"wp-image-461443" style&equals;"width&colon;840px&semi;height&colon;auto"&sol;><&sol;figure>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p class&equals;"has-small-font-size"><strong>Sheriff’s deputies work to free Dharmesh Arvind Patel’s crashed his Tesla after the family was airlifted to safety&period; The family of four all survived <&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<figure class&equals;"wp-block-image size-full is-resized"><img src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;konniemoments&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2024&sol;05&sol;image-80&period;webp" alt&equals;"" class&equals;"wp-image-461445" style&equals;"width&colon;841px&semi;height&colon;auto"&sol;><&sol;figure>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p class&equals;"has-small-font-size"><strong>The car was traveling northbound on Highway 1 near San Francisco at around 10am on Monday&comma; January 2&comma; 2023 when it flew over a sheer cliff face&comma; at the Tom Lantos Tunnel&comma; dropping 250ft below<&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p>Dr&period; Mark Patterson an expert witnesses for the defense told the court that Patel&comma; 42&comma; was experiencing a psychotic episode and feared his two kids would be sex trafficked prior to the incident&period; <br>&&num;8216&semi;It was paranoid and kind of delusional thinking that he acted on at the time to protect his family from a worse fate&comma;&&num;8217&semi; Patterson told the court&period; <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;sfchronicle&period;com&sol;bayarea&sol;article&sol;tesla-doctor-cliff-psychotic-episode-san-mateo-19418069&period;php" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"noreferrer noopener"><&sol;a><br>&&num;8216&semi;He was concerned that his children were at risk of being kidnapped&comma; possibly for sexual molestation&period; … There were concerns surrounding the explosion of fentanyl in this country and the war in Ukraine&period;&&num;8217&semi; <br>Patel&comma; who remains in Redwood City jail&comma; pled not guilty to three counts of attempted murder&period; <br>Patterson&comma; a psychologist&comma; testified that he diagnosed Patel with major depressive disorder with a single episode of psychotic features and anxious distress after meeting him a dozen times&period; <br>Patel&&num;8217&semi;s psychosis peaked in the days before the car crash&comma; adding that he had been hearing footsteps and thought he was followed&comma; Patterson told the court&period;<br>Patterson believes Patel is qualified for treatment under the mental health diversion law&comma; as he said&comma; &&num;8216&semi;I see him as someone who is very motivated and amenable to treatment&period; The defendant stopped having delusions while being held without bail at the San Mateo County jail&period; &&num;8216&semi;He still feels a lot of remorse&comma;&&num;8217&semi;  Patterson told the court&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;

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