Whoa. This was nearly SO tragic.
Doctor Dharmesh Arvind Patel, 41, of Pasadena, California, has been charged with tried homicide and youngster abuse after allegedly driving his household off a 250-foot cliff — on objective! On Monday, authorities responded to a 911 name claiming a Tesla had veered off Highway 1 whereas touring southbound close to Pacifica. The automobile fell down a cliff south of the Tom Lantos Tunnel at round 10:50 a.m. native time. Speaking to NBC Bay Area, Robin Johnson, an eyewitness, recalled pondering:
“Wow, he’s driving extremely fast to take that exit. You’re not even supposed to be going up that way.”
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She added of the driving force:
“And I can see in my rear-view mirror this car just go over the edge and straight down.”
She instantly known as for assist and about 30 to 50 rescuers confirmed up on the scene. Rescue groups then used ropes to rappel down the cliff, also called Devil’s Slide, which was estimated to be an almost 250 foot drop, in keeping with the San Francisco Chronicle. Because of the insane drop, they sadly weren’t anticipating anybody to have survived the crash — however miraculously, everybody did!
According to KTVU, they noticed a passenger signaling for assist as they made the descent down. Once on the automobile with Jaws of Life, first responders discovered 4 folks alive and acutely aware inside. This contains the driving force in addition to his spouse Neha, additionally 41, and their 4-yr-previous and 7-yr-previous. The youngsters had been rescued from the automobile first and hoisted as much as the highway through the ropes. They had been shortly placed on stretchers and assessed for the minor to reasonable accidents they sustained.
Things had been trickier for the mother and father and air help was known as to assist. In a dramatic video posted on-line by CalFire (under), a helicopter could be seen hovering over the scene, choosing up the adults, and returning them safely to a touchdown space the place first responders had been ready. Once everybody was rescued, your entire household was transported to Stanford Medical Center, the place they had been handled for accidents.
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Dharmesh, who’s a radiologist, will probably be booked into the San Mateo County Jail after he’s launched from the hospital. He and his spouse sustained reasonable to important accidents, in keeping with KTVU. Thankfully, they had been “non-life threatening injuries,” per the San Mateo Sheriff’s Office, who additionally described the children as “unharmed.” Very good consequence following a terrifying state of affairs!
Brian Pottenger, a battalion chief with Coastside Fire Protection District, mirrored on the scene in a press release to NBC Bay Area, saying:
“We came out here, unfortunately, for things like this. And it was nothing short of a miracle that they survived.”
He’s very proper about that. Just check out the harrowing scene (under).
This afternoon, deputies responded to a solo automobile over the facet of Hwy 1 south of the Tom Lantos tunnel. Two adults suffered non-life threatening accidents and two youngsters had been unhurt. Tremendous collaborative effort btwn SMSO, @CHP_GoldenGate and @calfireSCU pic.twitter.com/sVyKp6LSrc
— San Mateo County S.O (@SMCSheriff) January 3, 2023
Yikes.
It is at the moment unclear why Dharmesh is believed to have pushed his household off the cliff “intentionally,” however the California Highway Patrol decided that “based on the evidence collected, investigators developed probable cause to believe this incident was an intentional act.” While investigators haven’t but decided what driving mode the Tesla was in on the time of the crash, they don’t imagine that was an element within the incident, per the CHP. An investigation is ongoing. Just terrible. We hope all of them get well shortly.
Witnesses are requested to name the CHP at 415-557-1094.
[Image via San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office/Twitter]
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