Georgia Man Who Spent 6 Weeks in Jail on a Kidnapping Charge Says He Was Helping a Falling Child
After spending 45 days in a Cobb County, Georgia, jail on a charge of attempted kidnapping, Mahendra Patel was released on Tuesday on a $10,000 bond after a judge determined he was not a threat to the community. Patel, 57, was arrested on March 18 and initially denied bail after a mother accused him of trying to kidnap her 2-year-old son in an Atlanta-area Walmart.
According to the police report, Patel approached 26-year-old Caroline Miller and her two young children in the Walmart to ask for help finding Tylenol. Miller was sitting on a motorized shopping cart provided for disabled customers (even though she is not disabled) and had her toddler son on her lap. Miller told WSB-TV Atlanta that Patel grabbed the toddler and started “tug of warring” with her before letting go. Miller later reported the incident to 911 operators. “I had to rip my baby out of some other man’s hands because he was trying to snatch him,” Miller told the operator. “It all happened so fast, and he was out of the store, and while I was talking to the manager, he left.”
Patel was subsequently arrested and charged with assault, battery, and kidnapping, which was later amended to attempted kidnapping.
However, security footage shown during Patel’s latest bail hearing has been used to question the mother’s claims. Patel’s attorney, Ashleigh Mer
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