The idyllic countryside of a Bay Area winery was rudely disrupted this weekend when a man allegedly tried to start a fire, got into a fight with staff, and deliberately crashed his Tesla into two other parked cars, The San Francisco Chronicle reports.
The most curious detail to emerge from the mayhem has to do with the accused suspect, 42-year-old Beri Vikram of Menlo Park. Vikram, it turns out, is the founder of an online mental health platform called BetterLYF Wellness, which provides online therapy services in India.
Safe to say that mindfulness was not practiced that day.
The chaotic events played out on Saturday afternoon at Garrod Farms in Saratoga. According to the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office, the winery’s staff confronted Vikram after they caught him trying to light a fire, for reasons that remain unclear. He then threw a wine bottle at them and tried to get away in his Tesla.
His attempt was not successful. Vikram got as far as the winery parking lot, where he descended into a rampage one might indulge in while free-roaming in a Grand Theft Auto video game, intentionally smashing his Tesla into two other parked cars. He sent one of those cars over an embankment, authorities said, before ill advisedly driving his car over the edge, too, stranding him in the weeds.
Things allegedly didn’t calm down from there. The police say that Vikram locked himself in his Tesla and “refused to surrender,” so they pelted him with pepperball and pepper spray to force him out of the car.
The responding officers arrested Vikram and took him to a hospital. He was booked on charges of assault with a deadly weapon and resisting arrest, per the reporting.
Our hearts go out to Vikram, but it’s hard to read about the incident and not think about the storm of criticism that mental health startups have weathered for everything from aggressive growth practices to lax cybersecurity to playing fast and loose with controlled substances.
At least no one else appears to be badly hurt: the worst casualties seem to be Vikram’s totaled Tesla and the tiny Honda econobox he bludgeoned with it.
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