Indian-origin doctor accused of ‘purposely’ crashing car asks court for mental health treatment

A 41-year-old Indian-origin doctor in US who faces sentencing for allegedly attempting to kill his wife and two mir children by "purposely" driving his Tesla car off Pacific Coast Highway has asked for a mental health diversion inste of a prison term, a media report said.

Dharmesh Patel was charged in May with three counts of first-degree attempted murder after allegedly driving himself, his wife, and ir two children -- 4-year-old boy and a 7-year-old girl -- off Devil's Slide near California Highway 1 in his Tesla, KRON-TV reported on Saturday.

y all survived crash on January 3 this year.

Patel's wife maintains that her husband told his family he would drive off cliff before incident. suspect claimed his Tesla Model Y was having tire issues when he drove off 250-foot cliff in California.

"He drove off. He’s depressed," Neha Patel said in an affidavit obtained by San Francisco Chronicle newspaper.

"He’s a doctor. He said he was going to drive off cliff. He purposely drove off." Patel pleed t guilty and inste asked for a mental health diversion because of his major depressive disorder (MDD) diagsis, report said.

To be eligible for programme, a suspect's mental disorder needs to be a "significant factor" in criminal act, California law says.

If participants complete treatment within diversion programme, ir charges could be dropped and ir arrest could be expunged.

Murder and voluntary manslaughter suspects are excluded from diversion programme, but attempted murder is t explicitly ruled out.

After programme is complete, court decides if previous charges would be reinstated.

District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe previously said everyone in vehicle needed to be pulled from car's windows. boy was t injured, while Patel's daughter sustained serious injuries but recovered quickly.

Patel's wife, Neha "suffered probably most serious injuries", Wagstaffe explained.

Patel's eligibility for mental health diversion will be decided at end of July.

Aside from that initial comment to paramedics, Wagstaffe said witnesses and video foot from Tom Lantos Tunnel, which Patel drove through before crash, showed his Tesla driving straight off cliff without braking or attempting to serve to safety.

Investigators were examining Tesla to determine if re were any mechanical issues with vehicle before crash, which could strengn defence's argument in court.

California officials believed Patel's actions were "intentional".