US: Indian-origin doctor who drove family off cliff dodges jail, to get mental health treatment

New York: An Indian origin doctor, Dharmesh Patel, will receive mental health treatment, a court in California decided, after doctors found he was suffering from schizoaffective disorder and major depressive symptoms, media reports said Thursday.

Patel, his wife, and his children all survived the crash after the California doctor had driven his Tesla off a cliff last year, believing that his children, seven and four years old, were in danger of being sex trafficked,' RT international reported.

Patel, 43, pleaded not guilty to three counts of attempted murder. Last week, he was found eligible for a mental health diversion, according to court records.

The accused pleaded not guilty in September to three counts of attempted murder after plunging his Tesla 250 feet off a cliff with his family inside on January 2, 2023. All four survived after emergency workers rescued them from the rubble, a New York Times report said.

On Thursday, Patel was found eligible for a mental health diversion that allows a person charged with a crime to instead undergo treatment, according to records filed in Superior Court in San Mateo County, NYT said.

Under the provision, prosecution is postponed while the defendant undergoes mental health treatment, and may be dismissed entirely.

He will remain in jail for some more weeks and then will be released to his parents’ home in Belmont, Calif., where he will be monitored by GPS and required to report to court once a week, according to the release.

He is not allowed to leave San Mateo County and must surrender his driver’s license and passport, the report said.