All charges against Dharmesh Patel, a radiologist accused of attempting to kill his family by driving his Tesla off a 276-metre (50ft) cliff along Northern California's Pacific Coast Highway, have been dismissed. The January 2, 2023, crash at a location known as “Devil’s Slide” injured Patel's wife and two young children, but all survived what one official described as an “absolute miracle.”
A judge in San Mateo County dismissed the charges on July 7, 2026, after Patel completed a two-year mental health diversion program involving treatment with a Stanford University psychiatrist and a family therapist. San Mateo County District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe stated, “The judge was required by the law to dismiss the charges.”
In 2024, a different judge had ruled that Patel would receive mental health treatment instead of standing trial, after his defense argued he was experiencing episodic major depression with hallucinations at the time of the incident. This qualified him for mental health diversion under a California law enacted in 2023. Wagstaffe added, “If the person who’s given mental health diversion follows the treatment plan, there’s nothing that can be done and at the end of the two years he gets it wiped out of his record.”
San Mateo prosecutors had opposed the diversion program but were unsuccessful.
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