Wife's Cooperation In Tesla Cliff-Plunge Case Not Needed: Prosecutor

SAN MATEO COUNTY, CA — The case against a Southern California man accused of trying to kill his family of four including himself by intentionally driving off a 250-foot San Mateo County cliff last month will go forward, with or without his wife’s cooperation, a top prosecutor said Thursday.

Dharmesh A. Patel, 41 of Pasadena, was charged last week with three counts of attempted murder with enhancements for great bodily injury on two of the counts in connection with the Jan. 2 crash at Devil’s Slide, described by prosecutors as an attempted murder-suicide.

Patel pleaded not guilty to all counts Thursday in a Redwood City courtroom. A superior court judge restored a no-contact order that had been lifted by a different judge who presided over a Jan. 23 hearing.

All four survived the crash in what authorities called a “miracle” rescue. Patel's wife and 7-year-old daughter suffered serious injuries. Their 4-year-old son suffered wasn't badly injured.

Updated information about the injuries wasn't available as of Thursday.

Patel's preliminary hearing is scheduled for March 20 at 9 a.m. He is being held without bail.

Patel at Thursday's hearing stood behind a partially opened glass window wearing an orange jumpsuit and a surgical mask.

Joshua Bentley, Patel’s attorney, while arguing against the reinstatement of the no-contact order during Thursday’s hearing, fueled speculation that Patel's wife's willingness to cooperate with prosecutors is in.

“The victim does not want a prosecution,” Bentley said during the hearing.

But that's not her call to make, San Mateo County Chief Deputy District Attorney Sean Gallagher said at a news conference in front of the courthouse that followed the hearing.

“In domestic violence cases it’s not unusual that you’ll have the wife, or the husband or spouse be reluctant to cooperate,” Gallagher said.

Her cooperation isn’t needed to prosecute the case, Gallagher said.

“Our belief is that regardless of whether she is cooperative, we believe we have sufficient evidence to prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt,” Gallagher said.

The case against Patel is based on a combination of witness testimony, video evidence taken from Tom Lantos Tunnel, and an incriminating statement his wife made to paramedics during the rescue, District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe said after the Jan. 23 hearing in which Patel's plea was continued to Feb. 9.

“We have video showing the movement of the car after it left the tunnel and went up the hill, turned off of the road and then turned to go down the cliff,” Wagstaffe said.

Gallagher said Patel’s wife has been interviewed by law enforcement, but he wasn’t clear on the timeline.

Bentley declined to answer questions from reporters after Thursday's hearing.

Patel was arrested Jan. 3 but wasn’t jailed until Jan. 20, when the radiologist from Pasadena was released from Stanford Hospital, Wagstaffe said.

Bentley, who has been retained by Patel, is a prominent San Carlos-based defense attorney whose high-profile clients include ex-San Francisco 49ers defensive star Aldon Smith in a 2021 DUI case.

This is not Bentley's first case involving Tesla that made headlines. He represented Alexander Samek, a Los Altos planning commissioner arrested on suspicion of DUI after the CHP said Samek was spotted asleep at the wheel of a Tesla on autopilot that was traveling 70 mph on a Bay Area freeway in 2018.

Crashes along Devil’s Slide, a steep, rocky and winding coastal area about 15 miles (24.14 kilometers) south of San Francisco that’s between Pacifica and Montara, rarely end with survivors.

“We go there all the time for cars over the cliff and they never live. This was an absolute miracle,” Pottenger said around the time of the crash.

A witness around the time of the crash told NBC Bay Area they saw the car go over the cliff.

"And I can see in my rear-view mirror this car that just go over the edge and straight down," the witness told the television station.

News of Patel’s arrest and the circumstances the crash has stunned neighbors.

"They're like ideal neighbors,” neighbor Sarah Walker told ABC 7.

“It seemed like they had a great holiday, they went to go see both parents. It just seemed very happy and great."

Anyone with information about this case is asked to contact the CHP - San Francisco Area at (415) 557-1094.

— Bay City News and The Associated Press contributed to this report