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The founder of a mental health startup who’s facing felony charges following an erratic episode at a Saratoga winery was granted an unusual request from his jail cell: access to his phone to exercise over $1 million in stock options. Court records also detail chaotic events that led to charges including arson and attempted murder.
Vikram Beri, 42, of Palo Alto has been held without bail at San Jose Main Jail since his Dec. 6 arrest, when he allegedly set a picnic bench on fire, threw wine bottles at employees and rammed vehicles with his Tesla at a winery parking lot. He faces multiple felony charges.
His attorney filed an emergency motion on Dec. 16 asking the court to allow Beri’s brother to access his phone to exercise options valued at more than $1 million that were set to expire on Dec. 19. According to court records, Beri held a “substantial number” of call options that would have become worthless if they were not exercised by the expiration date.
A call option is a contract that grants the buyer the right to purchase an asset at an agreed upon price by a specific date. If the price of the asset falls above the agreed upon price, the buyer is able to turn a profit by buying the asset under face value.
Court records show the options were held in a Merrill Edge account secured by two-factor authentication, with access codes sent to Beri’s phone. That phone was in the custody of the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office, preventing Beri from accessing the account. Some of the options were expiring the day of the motion, but Beri’s attorney said it would be unlikely he would be able to exercise them in time.
Beri’s brother flew to the Bay Area from India and hoped to be granted permission to sign into the account and exercise the options.
The Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office did not oppose the motion, and Judge Griffin Bonini granted it the same day it was filed.
“This is an unusual request, admittedly, but in fairness it should be granted,” Beri’s attorney, David Callaway, told the court. “A defendant’s arrest should not, unnecessarily, cause him to lose over $1 million simply because he lacks access to his cellphone.”
Callaway said a deputy district attorney reviewed and suggested edits to a draft of the motion before it was submitted.
Under the court order, the Sheriff’s Office was directed to provide Beri’s phone and laptop to his brother, who would be allowed to access the Merrill Edge account under supervision. The process was to be audio- and video-recorded by a representative of the District Attorney’s Office.
Callaway declined to comment on whether the transaction was made successfully to protect the privacy of his client’s transaction.
Who is Beri?
Beri is the founder of BetterLYF Wellness, an online mental health startup, and an executive director of business development at a farm equipment manufacturer, according to the Daily Mail.
This news organization was unable to verify his employment.
The Sheriff’s Office initially described Beri as a Menlo Park resident, however, court records and Beri’s attorney state that he lives in Palo Alto.
New information on the incident
Newly obtained court records detail what happened before Beri’s arrest.
According to those records, at about 3:30 p.m. on Dec. 6, Beri was smoking near a doorway at Garrod Farms Estate & Stables when a winery owner asked him to move away from the entrance. Beri moved to his car, a 2026 Tesla Model Y, where he continued smoking, played loud music and remained on the property.
Beri later returned to the winery and began mixing wine in several glasses, adding fabric softener sheets to some of the glasses, according to court records. He then purchased a case of wine and left the property.
About 45 minutes later, a winery employee spotted Beri near a picnic table that was on fire, with wine bottles placed on top. The table was located near the horse training area, where Garrod Farms also operates stables and offers riding lessons to children and adults.
When the owner asked Beri to leave, Beri allegedly began dancing and chanting around the fire. After the owner extinguished the flames with a fire extinguisher, Beri became aggressive and threw wine bottles at winery staff.
A staff member then sprayed the fire extinguisher at Beri, according to the police report.
Beri then returned to his car and allegedly attempted to hit staff members and hit several other cars, including one with a winery patron in it who was uninjured. The owner then got into his work truck and drove into Beri’s car to stop further damage. Beri accelerated and drove into a ditch.
Deputies arrived and ordered Beri to exit the vehicle, but he refused. Deputies requested assistance from the Mobile Crisis Response Team, which declined to respond due to Beri’s erratic behavior.
In the motion seeking permission to exercise the stock options, Callaway suggested that Beri’s actions stemmed from unspecified “mental health issues.”
“Vikram’s demeanor would change from calm to extremely irritated in an aggressive manner,” one deputy wrote in a report.
After over an hour of Vikram refusing to leave the car, deputies fired pepperball rounds into Vikram’s car but he still did not leave. Deputies launched pepperball rounds into his car at least seven times.
Approximately 27 minutes after the first pepperball rounds were deployed, Beri exited the vehicle fully nude and was taken into custody, according to the report.
According to the police report, Beri was “rambling words incoherently,” attempted to fight hospital employees and was sedated.
Beri was charged with nine felonies and one misdemeanor including one count of attempted murder, four counts of felony assault with a deadly weapon (his vehicle) and one count of felony arson. He is being held without bond and his next hearing is scheduled for Jan. 20.
Startup founder jailed in ‘wild scene’ at winery allowed to exercise $1M in stock optionsJanuary 6, 2026 10:53 am
Maybe he founded a mental health startup in hopes of getting some help himself!
I wonder what the tipping point is for allowing inmates access to their phones in order to keep from losing money. Is it $1 million? $500,000? $50,000? What if someone argued that their family would not have water or power or housing if the person couldn’t access their phone in order to pay bills?