The driver of a car that plunged off a cliff in Northern California, seriously injuring two children and a second adult after falling 250 feet, has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder and battery child, the California Highway Patrol said Tuesday.
Dharmesh A. Patel of Pasadena will be booked into the San Mateo County Jail after being released from a hospital, the highway patrol said in a statement. It was not immediately known if Patel has an attorney.
“CHP investigators worked through the night interviewing witnesses and collecting evidence from the scene,” the highway patrol said in a statement. “Based on the evidence collected, investigators developed probable cause to believe this incident was an intentional act.”
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Tesla falls off 75m cliff in California, ‘miracle’ 2 adults and 2 children survive
Patel was in the car with another adult, a 4-year-old girl and a 9-year-old boy. It was not immediately clear if they were all members of the same family.
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Officials said it was a miracle the four survived after the car plunged off a notorious cliff along the Pacific Coast Highway near an area known as Devil’s Slide, known for fatal crashes.
Tesla’s sedan plummeted more than 250 feet (76 meters) off the freeway and crashed into a rocky outcrop. It appeared to flip a few times before landing on its wheels, wedged against the cliff a few feet from the surf, Coastal Fire Protection District/Cal Fire Battalion Chief Brian Pottenger said Monday.
Crashes along Devil’s Slide, a steep, rocky and winding coastal area about 15 miles (24 kilometers) south of San Francisco that lies between Pacifica and Montara, rarely result in survivors. On Monday, the victims were initially listed in critical condition, but all four were conscious and alert when first responders arrived.
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Tesla falls off 75m cliff in California, ‘miracle’ 2 adults and 2 children survive
“We go there all the time for cars over the cliff and they never live. It was an absolute miracle,” Pottenger said Monday.
0:37 Dash cam captures the moment the car drives straight off a cliff in California
There was no guardrail where the sedan went off the cliff, officials said.
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Witnesses called 911 about 10:15 a.m. Monday, and crews set up a rope system from the highway to lower firefighters down the cliff, the battalion chief said. At the same time, other firefighters watching the sedan with binoculars suddenly noticed movement, a sign that at least one person was still alive.
The incident went from what was likely a body recovery to a rescue operation that lasted several hours amidst constant rain, strong winds, slippery roads and waves. The doors slammed into the cliff and slammed shut, forcing firefighters to cut the victims out of the car using tools called the “jaws of life.”
Crews pulled the children out the back window and hand-lifted them up the cliff in a rescue basket using the rope system. They were taken to hospital by ambulance with musculoskeletal injuries.
The adults had traumatic injuries, however, and had to be lifted off the cliff by helicopter. Both were then taken to the hospital, the battalion chief said.
In 2018, a woman intentionally drove off another Northern California cliff in an SUV with her wife and six adopted children, investigators said. They were all killed. The accident in Mendocino County came just days after authorities in Washington state opened an investigation into allegations that Jennifer Hart’s children were being abandoned.
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