A man indicted for attempting to kidnap a child at Walmart in Acworth will be in court on Tuesday.
Mahendra Patel and his attorney will ask a judge for bond at an 11:30 a.m. hearing in Cobb County. They have maintained that he is innocent after they released a surveillance video of the events.
The South Asian Bar Association of Georgia will also be at the hearing, wearing yellow to support Patel. They are calling for an immediate review of his charges.
Channel 2 will have a reporter inside the courtroom following today’s proceedings. LIVE updates on Channel 2 Action News at Noon.
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Acworth police arrested Patel in March after Caroline Miller said she stopped him from kidnapping her 2-year-old son inside Walmart.
She said Patel asked her for help finding the Tylenol. When she pointed to it, she said he grabbed her 2-year-old son out of her hands.
“I’m like ‘No, no, not a, what are you doing?’ He pulled him,” Miller said. “I pulled him back. We’re tug of warring.”
Patel’s attorney, Ashleigh Merchant, later released a surveillance video from inside the Walmart.
“This video is very clear that that did not happen,” Merchant said.
In the video, Merchant said you can see Patel cross paths with Miller, who was in a motorized scooter and holding a baby in her arms. A little girl is sitting on the chair’s base under the mother’s legs.
Merchant said the few seconds where Patel had his back to the camera showed him reaching for the boy because he thought he was going to fall off.
“And a normal person would think that you’re handicapped, in a scooter, got two young children that she’s holding onto. So she’s getting up to try to point and he thinks the child is going to fall,” she said.
Miller did not respond to requests to comment on the video. She previously said that she is not handicapped, but her children wanted to ride in the motorized wheelchair.
The video shows an employee help Patel find the Tylenol. He passes Miller on the way to the checkout area and shows her the bottle.
“He’s not fleeing as the police have said. He’s using his debit card. He’s talking to an employee here, paying for it with his own name,” Merchant said.
Police arrested him days later. He’s been in jail with no bond since then. A Change.org petition has more than 45,000 signatures in support of Patel.
The Cobb County District Attorney’s Office has not publicly commented on the case.
Acworth police meanwhile released the following statement on April 16 after Merchant released the videos:
“The Acworth Police Department is aware of a partial video that has been released to the public. We want to clarify that our agency has not released any video footage or additional information related to this case. This remains an open and ongoing investigation. At this time, we are limited in the details we can provide in order to preserve the integrity of the case. We can confirm that Patel has been indicted by a Cobb County Grand Jury on the following charges: Attempted Kidnapping, Simple Battery, Simple Assault. As of now, no further information is available for release. We appreciate the community’s understanding and cooperation as we continue our investigation.”
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