Indian-origin doctor who drove car off cliff with family in US was ‘psychotic’

An Indian-origin doctor, accused of intentionally driving his Tesla off a cliff in California with his wife and children in the car, was experiencing a psychotic break and thought he was protecting his family at the time of the incident. Two psychologists testified on Wednesday (April 24) in the case of Dr Dharmesh Patel, a Pasadena radiologist, who is currently lodged in jail and has been charged with three counts of attempted murder.

Patel, 42, is accused of driving his car off the 250-foot Devil Slide’s cliff in California in January 2023. The two psychologists testified that Patel feared his two children, four and seven at the time, would be sex trafficked.

Mark Patterson, one of the psychologists and an expert witness called by Patel’s attorney, told the court that the 42-year-old was “paranoid and kind of delusional thinking he acted on at the time to protect his family from a worse fate,” Mail Online reported.

“‘He was concerned that his children were at risk of being kidnapped, possibly for sexual molestation… There were concerns surrounding the explosion of fentanyl in this country and the war in Ukraine,” Patterson further said.

Patterson and James Armontrout were the two psychologists who testified for Patel’s defence.

Patel’s white 2021 Tesla Model veered off the Pacific Coast Highway south of San Francisco and fell from the precipice on January 2, 2023. His wife and two children survived the crash.

Earlier, Patel had claimed that his car was having tyre issues when he drove off the cliff. However, his wife, Neha Patel, 41, maintains that her husband told her he would drive the car off the cliff and that he was depressed.

Dharmesh Patel has pleaded not guilty to three counts of attempted murder and is seeking a mental health diversion in the case, which would permit his release from jail and put him on a treatment plan for two years. If he doesn’t commit another crime or break any rules imposed following his release at the time, the charges against him would be dropped, The Los Angeles Times reported.

However, prosecutors have opposed the mental diversion, arguing their doctor found Patel was suffering from a depressive disorder called ‘schizoaffective’, and not from one with a psychotic feature. They believe that the case should remain in court.

According to California law, a suspect’s mental disorder needs to be a “significant factor” in the criminal act for him to be eligible for the diversion. It is part of a new statewide programme aimed at preventing defendants with mental illness from being incarcerated.

The case will return to court on May 2, when San Mateo County prosecutors are expected to call their witnesses. Judge Susan Jakubowski will decide if Dharmesh Patel has a mental illness contributing to the alleged murder, and if he poses a threat to the public safety by the end of the hearing, Mail Online reported.