It took more than a month for Georgia cops and prosecutors to view surveillance video from a Walmart that would have exonerated a 57-year-old Indian-American man from attempted kidnapping charges – instead relying on false accusations from a white woman.
As a result, Mahendra “Mick” Patel remained in jail for 46 days on fabricated felony charges of criminal attempt to commit kidnapping, simple assault, and simple battery after Cobb County prosecutors brought the case before a grand jury.
It was only after Patel’s attorneys obtained the video and published it on the internet, sparking national outrage, that prosecutors released him from jail. But even then, it still took another three months for prosecutors to dismiss the charges against Patel who moved to the United States from India to pursue a master’s degree in engineering in 1990.
On Monday, Patel filed a lawsuit against Caroline Miller, the woman who falsely accused him; Acworth police officer James Evan Wallace, the cop who arrested him; and Cobb County District Attorney Sonya Allen and Deputy Chief Investigator Temperance Stoddard of the Cobb County District Attorney’s Office.
Wallace, Allen and Stoddard are accused of arresting, incarcerating and charging Patel without conducting a basic investigation, violating his constitutional rights to due process.
The lawsuit, filed by attorneys from Attorneys from the Milberg and Radner Law Group law firms, calls out the incompetency of investigators:
At the time he sought the warrant, Defendant Wallace knew or should have known that Walmart maintained surveillance video of the encounter.
Rather than reviewing and fairly evaluating the surveillance footage, Defendants Wallace and Stoddard relied almost exclusively on Ms. Miller’s allegations.
The available video evidence directly contradicted the claim that Plaintiff attempted to abduct a child or engaged in any assaultive conduct.
Defendants Wallace and Stoddard failed to conduct a reasonable investigation before seeking criminal charges against Plaintiff.
The lawsuit accuses defendants of violating Patel’s Fourth Amendment rights through malicious prosecution and negligent training.
”Civil rights are meaningless if police and prosecutors can knowingly proceed with false charges and face no accountability,” said attorney Marc Grossman of the Milberg law firm in a press release announcing the lawsuit.
“This lawsuit seeks to hold every responsible party accountable for what the complaint describes as a deliberate abuse of power.”
False Accusation
The incident took place on March 18, 2025, after Patel walked into a Walmart in Acworth, a city about 35 miles north of Atlanta, to buy Tylenol for his elderly mother.
The video shows him wandering the aisles of the store when he approaches Miller, who is sitting in a motorized wheelchair with two small children.
The video contains no audio but it shows him appearing to ask her a question because she responds by pointing in the direction of the store to find the Tylenol.
At one point during their conversation, Miller’s 2-year-old child appeared to be losing balance and falling from his mother’s lap so Patel tried to stop the child from falling before walking away.
The claim states he was “acting instinctively and without any improper intent” when he reached out to keep the child from falling.
“The interaction lasted only a moment,” the claim states.
“Plaintiff did not attempt to remove the child from Ms. Miller’s custody, did not pull the child toward himself, and did not use any force.”
The video shows a Walmart employee leading Patel to the Tylenol and he picks up a box and walks toward a cashier to pay, stopping for a few seconds to show Miller he had found what he had been seeking.
The video shows Patel paying, then walking toward the door where he speaks to an employee for 33 seconds before making his way out of the store.
Meanwhile, Miller is standing from her wheelchair holding a child in her arms, speaking to an employee apparently telling her that Patel had tried to kidnap her child. She would call police 30 minutes later.
“The available video evidence directly contradicted the claim that Plaintiff attempted to abduct a child or engaged in any assaultive conduct,” the claim states.
Patel’s attorneys accused Miller in court of having a history of making unsubstantiated allegations.
Patel’s attorney, Ashleigh Merchant, said Caroline Miller has a long history of interactions with law enforcement.
“There’s over 20 police reports over the last seven years involving Ms. Miller,” Ashleigh Merchant said during a bond hearing prior to Patel’s release.
Unlawful Arrest
Three days later on March 21, 2025, Patel was pulled over and arrested on a warrant for attempted kidnapping, held in the Cobb County Jail with no bond on charges of kidnapping, simple assault and simple battery.
The Acworth Police Department issued the following statement on its Facebook page the following day, acting as if it had conducted a proper and thorough investigation – which was far from the case.
Officers spoke with the mother and witnesses and learned that the suspect approached her and asked a question about Tylenol. The suspect then grabbed the juvenile and attempted to pull the child away from the mother. The mother was able to break away with the juvenile and the suspect fled the area. The juvenile was not injured during the incident.
Detectives immediately began an investigation and after reviewing the surveillance cameras, FLOCK Cameras, and speaking with witnesses, a suspect was identified and a warrant was secured.
Patel is currently in custody at the Cobb County Sheriff’s Office with no bond.
We would like to thank Detectives with the Cobb County Police Department who assisted in the identification of the suspect.
Miller then spoke to various media companies, sticking with her fabricated story, claiming that Patel asked for the Tylenol, then tried to grab her child.
“I’m like ‘No, no, not a, what are you doing?’ He pulled him. I pulled him back. We’re tug of warring,” she told WSB-TV, who headlined the article, “Cobb County mom recounts terrifying moments she says man almost kidnapped her son at Walmart.”
But there was no ‘tug-of-war,’ no assault, and no attempt to abduct a child,” the claim states.
However, Acworth police went along with the lie in the days following the arrest, bragging about tracking him down using cameras but mentioning nothing about the Walmart surveillance camera.
“We were able to see the car he got into, and followed the cameras, and used our Flock cameras in the city and was able to get a tag number and track him down,” Sgt. Eric Mistretta told WSB.
On April 3, 2025, prosecutors brought the case before a grand jury who indicted him based solely on the word of Miller and police.
Video Evidence
Patel’s attorneys obtained the Walmart surveillance video on April 15, 2025, distributing it to the media where people throughout the world learned he was being falsely accused. More than 93,000 people signed a petition demanding his release.
But he would remain in jail until May 6, 2025 which was when a judge finally viewed the video, allowing Patel to bond out. But the charges against him were not dismissed until August 6, 2025.
In the press release announcing the lawsuit, Patel’s attorneys said Acworth police actually viewed the surveillance video the night of the alleged incident and still proceeded with the arrest, refusing to give the video to Patel’s attorneys.
“Surveillance video reviewed by police the night of the incident allegedly showed no injury, no use of force, and no attempt to remove the child from his mother’s custody,” the press release states. “Despite this, authorities moved forward with felony charges.”
“When Mr. Patel’s defense sought access to the surveillance footage, prosecutors reportedly sought to block its release and pursue an indictment the same day.”
Patel, who ended up losing 17 pounds while incarcerated, remains traumatized by the experience.
The claim states Patel “lost business opportunities, was removed from charitable organizations, and endured significant public stigma” over the false arrest.
“This case is not about a good-faith error,” Solomon Radner, civil rights attorney at Radner Law Group, said in the press release.
“It raises serious questions about what happens when exculpatory evidence is ignored, and the system continues forward anyway.”
Watch the surveillance video below.
