The man cleared of charges accusing him of trying to kidnap a child at an Acworth Walmart said he received death threats and is traumatized by the ordeal.
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Prosecutors dropped all charges against Mahendra, or Mick, Patel on Aug. 6. He told Channel 2’s Tom Regan he wants an apology from the people involved.
“To say this was a nightmare is an understatement,” he said. “We actually went through hell both inside and outside, including my family for at least 47 days.”
Patel went to the Walmart to get Tylenol for his mother. He said he only was trying to help when a woman in a motorized cart, Caroline Miller, appeared to lose hold of a toddler in her arms.
“Kid almost started falling, so instinctively, I tried to grab the kid and put him back in her lap,” he said. “And she resisted, and that was that.”
He left after buying the medicine, waving to the mother on his way out. Miller called 911 and told them someone tried to kidnap her child.
Days later, he was under arrest.
“They’re drawing a gun on me,” he said. “My heart stopped. That was the scariest moment of my life.”
He said he became a target during his month-and-a-half in jail when inmates heard he had been accused of trying a take a child. He
“One of the guys said, ‘Give me a half-million dollars and we will try to protect you in jail,” Patel told Channel 2.
“This is definitely a case of wrongful prosecution, definitely a case of wrong arrest, false arrest,” said Patel’s attorney, Ashleigh Merchant.
Patel says the woman who made the allegations that upended his life, and the prosecutors, need to personally apologize.
“Any involved in my case, for wrongfully charging me on this case needs to apologize,” he said.
Channel 2 reached out to the Cobb County District Attorney’s Office and police for comment. Acworth police said after their investigation, a judge determined that there was probable cause to issue an arrest warrant.
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