Investigators said Tuesday they believe Dharmesh Arvind Patel intentionally drove a Tesla off a cliff on California’s Highway 1. The four-door sedan plunged 250 feet, apparently flipping several times before landing feet from the Pacific Ocean.
After a highly technical operation at the coastal San Mateo County roadway, a 7-year-old girl, a 4-year-old boy and two adults, both 41, were pulled from the wreckage alive but seriously injured. Rescue officials called it a miracle.
Now, investigators say they believe the vehicle’s driver, Dharmesh Arvind Patel, drove the Tesla off the cliff intentionally. He was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder and child abuse, the California Highway Patrol said late Tuesday. Patel will be sent to San Mateo County jail after hospital treatment. A lawyer for Patel could not immediately be identified.
The rescue operation began about 11 a.m. Monday at the stretch of highway called Devil’s Slide, about 15 miles south of San Francisco. Opened in 1937, the road has long been considered perilous, winding along a rocky cliff with a sheer drop-off to the ocean.
A Tesla with two adults and two minors went over a cliff at Devil's Slide in San Mateo County, Calif., on Jan. 2, plunging hundreds of feet to the beach below.
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