Neha Patel, the wife of California doctor Dharmesh Patel, spoke publicly for the first time on Thursday, appealing to a San Mateo court for her husband’s return. Dharmesh, 42, was charged in January 2023 with three counts of first-degree attempted murder after allegedly driving himself, Neha, and their two children, then aged 4 and 7, off Devil’s Slide near California Highway 1 in his Tesla.
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During her testimony via Zoom, Neha urged the court to drop the charges against her husband and grant him mental health treatment instead. “I don’t want to see Dharmesh prosecuted with any of his charges, I am pleading with the court to grant him his mental health diversion,” she stated, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. She emphasized that Dharmesh, whom she met in 1999 and married 16 years ago, is a “productive member of society” and her “best friend.” Neha also described him as “the most down-to-earth and humble man” and stated that he has always been loyal to her as a boyfriend and husband.
After the crash, Neha and her children were injured and hospitalized. She initially told first responders that her husband tried to kill them and intentionally drove off the side. Now, she advocates for mental health treatment for Dharmesh instead of prison time. On January 2, first responders found the white Tesla approximately 250 feet down the cliff, and rescuers used the Jaws of Life tool to extract the two children from the vehicle and then helped Neha and Dharmesh through the windows, as reported by Yahoo! News.
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Witnesses and video footage from the nearby Tom Lantos Tunnel reportedly showed the Tesla driving straight off the cliff without braking or attempting to swerve. During Thursday’s hearing Dr. Yan Chan testified that Dharmesh had been diagnosed with schizoafective disorder and suffered from paranoia. There was one point where he reportedly believed that his mailman was out to get him and that his children would be trafficked. The Mayo Clinic has described schizoaffective disorder as a combination of schizophrenia and mood disorder symptoms, such as hallucinations, delusions, depression, or mania.
Neha exclaimed that her husband’s condition is treatable and insisted that the “health and safety of my family is of paramount importance.” She also highlighted how her children have suffered without their father:
“Seeing my kids in constant pain is one of the hardest things I’ve had to endure. We need him in our lives, and it has been over a year and a half since my children or I have seen or spoken to Dharmesh. … We are not a family without him.”