COBB COUNTY, Ga. — A man accused of trying to kidnap a toddler says he was only trying to help. The child’s mom said he tried to steal her son at a Walmart in Acworth.
Mahendra Patel has been locked in Cobb County Jail for nearly a week with no bond. Now, his attorney, Ashleigh Merchant, is sharing his explanation.
“He’s been in this community for a very long time, you know? His wife is a doctor. He’s a retired engineer. He owns a lot of property in Cobb. This is an upstanding member of our community,” Merchant told Channel 2’s Courtney Francisco. “This is not some predator that’s roaming the streets.”
The mother, Caroline Miller, said her kids wanted to use the motorized scooter, and they crossed paths with Patel in one of the aisles.
That’s when 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.
“We’re tug-of-warring,” Miller told Channel 2 Action News earlier this week.
“You mean to tell me that if someone was having a tug-of-war with a child, that Mr. Patel was going to walk freely around Walmart for 10 minutes?” Merchant said. “He was looking for the Tylenol, asked for help. She was getting up to show him, to point where the Tylenol was, and a normal person would think you’re handicapped because you’re in the handicapped scooter, got two children she’s holding on to. She explained they were both at her feet. She explained one was sort of in her lap, and one’s at her feet, and she’s getting up to point, and he thinks the child’s going to fall.”
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An employee there ended up helping him get the medication. He checked out and left.
“It seems like a situation that’s been very misconstrued,” Merchant said.
The mom eventually called the police, and they arrested Patel days later.
Miller said she hopes Patel’s explanation is true.
“To think that somebody is so bold to go into a Walmart and take a baby out of somebody’s hands is terrifying to think about,” Miller said. “So, I would hope that that isn’t the case, and we don’t have somebody out there like that. But, you know, we live in a crazy world.”
She said she will let the attorneys decide how to handle it.
“I’m just going to leave it up to the people who are professionals at this to decide why and what and what to do next,” Miller said.
Acworth police said officers aren’t releasing the surveillance video to the pubic. Patel’s attorney said she is working to get it.
“I’d like to see it. My client would like to see it,” Merchant said.
She said kidnapping is such a serious charge, Patel has no bond right now. So, she has to ask for it in front of a judge as soon as she gets on the court’s schedule next month.
She said she also plans to ask the judge to dismiss the charges completely at the next probable cause hearing.
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