Doctor accused of trying to kill his wife and children by driving Tesla off a cliff booked into jail

The Pasadena doctor charged with the attempted murder of his wife and their two young children by intentionally driving their Tesla off a 250ft cliff is behind bars.

Dharmesh A. Patel, 42, was booked into San Mateo County Jail in California and is due to appear in court on Monday afternoon, according to inmate records.

Patel is being held in Maguire Correctional Facility facing first degree attempted murder and child abuse charges.

His transfer into jail and scheduled appearance in court comes after he spent three weeks in hospital after he was seriously injured in the crash. It is unclear whether his wife and children are still in hospital, or if they have been released.

Dharmesh A. Patel, 41, was initially arrested on suspicion of attempting to murder his wife Neha, 41, and their four-year-old son and seven-year-old daughter after allegedly making a U-turn at Devil's Slide in California on January 2

Miraculously the family of four survived the plunge to the water's edge without sustaining life-threatening injuries. The mangled Tesla Model Y is pictured after the smash

Patel is accused of intentionally driving his white Tesla Model Y off a cliff known as Devil's Slide on Monday near San Francisco, during a trip north.

Miraculously, all four members of the family - Patel, his wife Neha and their kids aged four and seven - survived without any serious injuries.

Although he has been accused of attempted murder, last week prosecutors were seeking to rule out the possibility that there was some sort of break malfunction with the car.

Initially there was speculation that the Tesla may have been in a self-driving mode but that also now been ruled out.

'Did the brakes fail? Were the brakes working? Were there any other mechanical malfunctions that would have led to him not being able to stop the vehicle?' District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe told the LA Times. 'We're having the car looked at from top to bottom.'

The DA's office was still in the early stages of the investigation, he added. 

The rescue effort at dusk on Monday January 2 after emergency teams realized the family was alive 

The car was traveling northbound on Highway 1 near San Francisco at around 10am on Monday, January 2

Sheriff's deputies work to free the car after the family was airlifted to safety 

Patel works as a radiologist at Providence Holy Cross Medical Center in Pasadena.

He has since been transferred to San Mateo Medical Center, Wagstaffe said, but he was not to be formally booked until he finished receiving treatment.

Troopers were dispatched around 10am on January 2, to reports that a vehicle had veered off the cliff on Highway 1, around 20 miles south of San Francisco. The steep, rocky, winding coastal area is known as Devil's Slide.

Fire Chief Brian Pottenger told reporters: 'We go there all the time for cars over the cliff and they never live. This was an absolute miracle.'

The car was initially said to have flipped multiple times, however experts have since raised doubts, arguing the heavy batteries located in the floor of the Tesla would have stopped it from rolling.

There was no guardrail at the spot where the sedan went off the cliff, officials said.

Patel was seen driving at speed northbound on Highway 1 and he is speculated to have performed a sharp turn before reaching the Tom Lantos Tunnel, which is where the Tesla veered off the road, first onto a dirt area and then down the cliff.

Robin Johnson, who called 911 after seeing the crash, recalled: 'Wow, he's driving extremely fast to take that exit. You're not even supposed to be going up that way.

'And I can see in my rear-view mirror this car just go over the edge and straight down.'

The huge drop from the highway to the scene of the crash. The family members were airlifted to safety 

Rescue teams had to abseil down the side of the cliff while others used helicopters to try to reach the family 

About 30 to 50 rescuers arrived at the scene where it was initially assumed that anyone in the car must have been dead.

A helicopter and specialist teams were required to rappel down the cliff to the car. It was not until hours later that rescue teams discovered the four family members conscious and alert in the car.

The children were pulled out first, through a back window, and hauled up the cliff by hand in a rescue basket using a pulley.

The doctor and his wife were more seriously injured and had to be hoisted out by helicopter and were then flown directly to hospital.

Neighbors expressed their shock after learning the allegations against Patel, describing their family as 'idyllic'.

Roger Newmark, who lives several doors down from the family on a leafy Pasadena street, told CBS: 'They're the sweetest couple and they have the greatest two little kids.'

The hospital where Patel works as a radiologist also released a statement after the crash.

'Providence Holy Cross Medical Center is deeply saddened to learn of a traffic incident involving one of our physicians and his family,' it said.

'We are extremely grateful there were no serious injuries. We will not respond further, as this incident is under investigation.'

According to an online profile, Patel graduated from the Wayne State University School of Medicine in Michigan and has been practicing for more than a decade.