MONTARA, Calif. (AP) – 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 charged with suspected of attempted murder and child abuse, California. The Highway Patrol said Tuesday.
Dharmesh A. Patel of Pasadena will be booked into the San Mateo County Jail after being released from the hospital, the highway patrol said in a statement. It was not immediately known if Patel had an attorney.
“CHP investigators worked through the night to interview witnesses and collect evidence from the scene,” the highway patrol said. “Based on the evidence collected, investigators have reason to believe that this incident was a deliberate act.”
Patel was in the car with another adult, a 4-year-old girl, and a 9-year-old boy. It was not clear if they were all members of the same family.
Officials say it’s a miracle the four survived after the car plunged down a prominent cliff on the side of the Pacific Coast Highway near a beach resort. It’s the Devil’s Slide which is famous for breaking.
Tesla’s car fell 250 feet (76 meters) off the highway and hit a cliff. It appeared to flip over several times before landing on its wheels, clinging to a rock just a few feet from the slide, said Brian Pottenger, a trooper for the Coastside Fire Protection District/Cal Fire, on Monday.
Accidents on the Devil’s Slide, a steep, rocky and rolling beach about 15 miles (24 km) south of San Francisco between Pacifica and Montara, are rare. ending with survivors. On Monday, the victims were initially listed in critical condition but all four were alert and alert when rescuers arrived.
“We always go for the cars on the cliff and they never live. This is a great miracle,” Pottenger said Monday.
There was no guardrail where the sedan went off the cliff, officials said.
Witnesses called 911 around 10:15 a.m. Monday and crews set up a rope from the highway to lower firefighters down the cliff, said the commander of the army. At the same time, other firefighters who were watching the sedan through emergency eyes suddenly noticed the movement – a sign that at least one person was still alive.
The incident turned from what appeared to be a recovery of bodies into a rescue operation that took several hours amidst continuous rain, strong winds, slippery roads and waves. The doors hit the rock and closed, so the firefighters were forced to cut the victims out of the car using tools called “jaws of life”.
The crew pulled the children from the rear window and brought them onto the cliff by hand in a rescue bag using a rope. They were rushed to the hospital by ambulance with musculoskeletal injuries.
The adults were seriously injured, however, and the rock had to be lifted up by a helicopter. Both of them were taken to the hospital, said the commander of the army.
In 2018, a woman intentionally drove another rock into Northern California in an SUV with her husband and their six adopted children, investigators said. All were killed. The tragedy in Mendocino County happened a few days after authorities in Washington state opened an investigation into allegations that Jennifer Hart’s children were neglected.
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