Judge Drops Charges Against California Father Who Drove His Family Off A Cliff

Interesting california, depression, gavin newsom, mental health, san francisco admin July 8, 2026 0 Comments

Judge Drops Charges Against California Father Who Drove His Family Off A Cliff

A San Francisco judge dismissed all charges Monday against a father who had been accused of attempting to kill his family by driving his car off a cliff in 2023.

Prosecutors alleged that Dharmesh Patel, a radiologist from Pasadena, California, intentionally drove his Tesla off a 250-foot cliff known as “Devil’s Slide” along the Pacific Coast Highway, according to NBC News. His wife and two children — aged four and seven at the time of the Jan 2, 2023, crash — were injured but miraculously survived, according to an official cited by the outlet.

A San Mateo County judge dropped the three charges of attempted murder after the 45-year-old completed a two-year mental health diversion program with a Stanford University psychiatrist and a family therapist, according to San Mateo County District Attorney Steve Watsgaffe. A San Mateo County Superior Court allowed Patel to enter the diversion program instead of pursuing charges in 2024 after doctors testified that he was experiencing a psychotic break caused by major depressive disorder when he drove off the cliff, The Los Angeles Times reported.

Diversion programs, established in California in 2018 and expanded in 2023, focus on treatment instead of punishment for certain defendants who struggle with a mental illness that influenced their alleged offenses. The programs exclude crimes like murder, rape, and sex abuse of a child under 14, but do include attempted murder, making Patel eligible.

Watsgaffe said the judge was legally required to drop charges since Patel had completed all program requirements, according to NBC News. The attorney expressed disappointment over the results and said that he and other California district attorneys are working to amend the law so that individuals guilty of attempted murder are ineligible for the program, The Los Angeles Times reported.

“We felt that the crime was way too serious, and allowing diversion for somebody who had, with premeditation and deliberation, planned to kill his two small children and his wife, as well as himself, was not good for public safety,” Wagstaffe told the LA Times.

Patel was on a family road trip when he drove off the cliff. He was reportedly struggling with hallucinations and hearing footsteps at the time, according to the testimony of two doctors cited by The New York Post. He also allegedly believed that his children had been sex trafficked, the outlet said. His mental health was impacted by reports about Jeffery Epstein’s sex trafficking operations, the nation’s fentanyl crisis and the war in Ukraine, according to the doctors.

Soon after the crash, Patel’s wife, Neha, alleged that her husband “did it on purpose” and should have a “psych evaluation,” according to Fox News.

Patel remained in prison without bail until he moved in with his parents in San Mateo County to begin the mental health program in 2024 under GPS monitoring. At that time, he gave up his driver’s license and passport and submitted to weekly check-ins with the court. The attorney said Neha and the children moved to the area and the court later permitted Patel to interact with them and take them on drives.

Neha described the event as “a mental health episode beyond any of our understanding or control” during a May 2024 court hearing, according to The New York Post. She promised the judge that things would change if her husband could return home and described him as a “kind and altruistic” man.

“We need him in our life,” Neha said in testimony to the court. “We’re not a family without him.”

She told the court she would seek help when needed and described how their children had suffered from his long absence. She and Patel embraced after the judge dismissed the charges, the outlet reported. (RELATED: ROOKE: Gavin Newsom Blames Trump For Something Biden Started)

“Wow, boy, did he get the break of breaks,” Wagstaffe said, according to the LA Times. “I hope he takes advantage of it.”

Democratic California Governor Gavin Newsom tightened regulations on mental health diversion last week by signing Assembly Bill 46 into law, which allows judges to deny diversion requests when they believe the defendant endangers public safety. A previous draft of the bill eliminated attempted murder charges from the program, but that exemption was removed before the bill became law.