A doctor has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder after his Tesla plunged 250 feet off a cliff with his family inside. Radiologist Dharmesh A Patel, 42, is alleged to have deliberately steered the white Tesla Model Y off a cliff in California on Wednesday.
Dr Patel’s wife, Neha, 41, seven-year-old daughter and four-year-old son, were inside the car. All four miraculously survived the massive plunge.
Pictures show the crumpled wreck on rocks at the foot of Devil’s Slide, a cliff near San Francisco.
Dr Patel was said to be in a stable condition in hospital on Wednesday and is due to be booked into the San Mateo County Jail in Redwood City, California upon his release.
Police believe the crash was an “intentional act” by the radiologist.
Officers worked for three hours to carry out the rescue on Monday, with the children, who suffered minor injuries, saved first.
A helicopter was then used to hoist the adults, who were more seriously hurt, out of the mangled car.
“The children were secured properly in proper car seats, and the car seats were secured properly into the vehicle,” Brian Pottenger battalion chief of firefighers at the San Mateo-Santa Cruz Unit said.
“The car seats saved the lives of those two kids, in our opinion.”
READ MORE: Two adults and two kids survive horror 250ft drop
The Tesla driven by Dr Patel was travelling on the main part of the roadway before it veered off the cliff, he continued, adding that the area regularly sees similar incidents.
The hospital where he works said it was “deeply saddened” by the crash, but also “extremely grateful” that the injuries caused were not more severe.
Devil’s Slide is a steep, rocky and winding coastal area around 15 miles (24 kilometres) south of San Francisco.
The cliff has been the site of a number of fatalities over the past five decades.
In a bid to make the area safer, a tunnel was built to bypass the most dangerous part of the road but, since then, at least nine people have died in the area, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.
