Major Twist in Shocking Walmart ‘Kidnapper’ Case

and all process been entered in the. Patel case. >> Thank you, judge. >> Thank you, everyone. That'll complete. the hearing on Patel. >> With the flick of a pen, all charges. against a man who was accused of trying. to kidnap a little boy in an Atlanta. area Walmart were dropped. And it comes. after store surveillance arguably. contradicted what the boy's mother told. police. His attorney and her. investigator are here to talk about the. case, what happened in court, and what. we can expect next. Welcome to Sidebar, presented by Law and Crime. I'm Jesse. Weber.

This is a case that we've been following. quite closely here on Sidebar since. March with 57year-old Mahendra Patel. He. was arrested by police in Aworth, Georgia after a woman told a Walmart. store employee to call 911. Caroline. Miller claimed that a man had tried to. snatch her toddler away from her and. take off. She called it a quote. tugofwar. Now, Patel, who had apparently. left the store with the Tylenol that he. had come in search of, was arrested by. Cobb County police. They originally. charged him with kidnapping, but a grand.

jury ended up indicting him on charges. of criminal attempt to commit. kidnapping, simple assault, and simple. battery. But when surveillance video. from inside that Walmart store was. released to the public by Patel's. attorney, Ashley Merchant, there was. outrage. The video arguably completely. disproved the allegations that Miller. made. Now, we're going to be speaking. with Miss Merchant as well as her. investigator in just a minute about how. she was able to get justice for Mr. Patel. First, I want to walk you through. this video. Okay, so you flash back to. March 18th, 2025. And according to.

Merchant, Patel was on the hunt for some. Tylenol, and it had to be a specific. version of the brand. At around 8:16. p.m. that night, security video shows. Mahendra Patel enter the Walmart. He. wanders around the aisles in the. pharmacy section, presumably looking for. the Tylenol, but he can't seem to spot. it. Who he does spot is Caroline Miller, who's apparently riding in one of the. stores motorized scooters with one child. in her lap and the other at her feet. Now, Miller has since admitted that. she's not disabled, doesn't need the. scooter, but her children like to ride.

in it. So, Patel says that he asked. Miller where the medicine was. And as. they turn into an aisle, that is when. something happens. But the angle. obscures the interaction, but Miller. claims Patel tried to grab her son, but. the footage doesn't seem to show a. struggle. Patel claims he was trying to. prevent her son from falling off the. scooter. He eventually finds the. Tylenol, walks calmly to the checkout, even indicating to Miller that he got. what he was looking for, and she gives.

him a thumbs up. He checks out at the. register, pays with his debit card, pauses to chat with the employee before. exiting the store. Nothing that might. suggest he was fleeing the scene as had. been suggested by Miller. And several. minutes into the interaction, Miller. approaches an employee, tells her. someone tried to take her child. The. employee says they need to call police, something the employee would reportedly. later say that Miller was hesitant to. do. She also did interviews with local. TV stations, apparently saying she was. lucky to have saved her son from a. kidnapping. But once the video was out.

there, there was a good bit of uproar. with many calling for Aworth and Cobb. County authorities to not only release. Patel on bond so he could get out of. jail, but also to drop the charges. Now, not to jump away from this in any way or. make light of the allegations here, but. you know, talking shopping, I got to. talk about Upside, our sponsor. Why? This is incredible. It's a free app that. gets you cash back when you buy Daily. Essentials. So, if I pump my gas, I can. use Upside. I go out to lunch, I can use. Upside. Maybe I get something at a. convenience store, I can use Upside. And.

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Gregory P. Hundreds of people had come. to the courthouse to support him. And. during that hearing, Merchant argued. that her team spoke with at least two. people who had been in the store who. said if they'd seen an attempted baby. snatching, they would have stepped in. >> There's um two alleged witnesses, the. Walmart employee and Mr. Leva. Mr. Leva. is mentioned on the warrant. Um both of. them, we have interviewed them. Both of. them had said if they had seen a. kidnapping, an assault, an attempt, anything like that, they would have. stepped in, that they were there, didn't. see it. They um all confirmed the.

Walmart was busy. there were lots of. people around. Um the the Walmart. employee said that Mr. Patel was a. friendly older gentleman. Um you know. was very friendly with her. Kind of gave. her like a hug almost like she was so. happy when she finally helped him find. the um the Tylenol. Um she said that she. didn't know what was going on with Miss. Miller. Um but she's permitted she's not. permitted to ask what her handicap is, but she said it was suspicious that she. didn't scream, call 911, anything like. that. Um and then Mr. Leva, the. gentleman in the orange shirt that you.

saw. Um, again, he said that Mr. Patel. lifted the child like the child's. father. Um, and that Miss Miller sort of. pulled back the child. Um, there was no. tugof-war. Uh, Mr. Leva actually was. mistaken and thought it was the younger. child that all this was happening with, he was kind of confused. But the one. thing he was sure about was that there. was no attempted abduction and had he. seen anything like that, he was close. enough that he would have stepped in and. done something. But according to. prosecutors, when Patel was arrested, he. allegedly admitted he touched the child, which could technically meet the. standard for attempted kidnapping under.

the law. But here's what happened. Patel. posted bond. He was released. But Cobb. County, they still didn't drop the. charges until now. A quick hearing was. held once again in front of Judge P on. August 6th to approve a state's motion. not to prosecute. >> The court will call for consideration. that matter concerning the state of. Georgia versus Mahendra Patel. Case. number 25 CR01. 090. The record can reflect the matter was. set by the court on the state's motion.

pursuant to OCGA section 17-8-3. The record can reflect that um Mr. Ms. Merchant are here representing his. interest. Do you wave his presence or is. he here. >> in the courtroom with his family? >> He's here someplace. >> He is. Thank you. >> All right. And Miss McCauley is. representing the interest of the state. She's the one that filed the motion. and. uh I've read the state's bench brief and. the motion and I'm ready. >> Thank you, judge. [Music].

>> I'm not going to be overly repetitive of. what has already provided in the state's. motion which was filed this morning. The. state is making a motion pursuant to 178. um 3 of the official code of Georgia for. an entry of null pros um as to the. following. The district attorney's. office for the co judicial circuit and. Mr. Patel along with his council. Caroline Miller on her own behalf and on. behalf of the minor child consistent. with with her election under 17171 at. SEC um met to discuss their respective.

views of the above caption case that was. done on Monday of this week. Um that. election was done after a thorough. review of all available facts and. circumstances evaluation the best. interest of the of the community and. goals of the criminal justice system. After both that review and the party's. discussion of their respective. positions, the state is satisfied at. this point that the ends of justice have. been met and we would move for an entry. of no boss. >> Merchant, >> we have no objection, judge. Thank you. >> All right. Um I believe it's in the.

court's discretion and obviously that's. fine with me knowing what I've seen in. the matter. I appreciate the state. looking into it. You've complied with. the victim's notification act by. speaking with the alleged victim in the. case. >> Yes. And u I'm satisfied if you present. the n price I will sign it. >> Thank you. [Music].

>> All proc has been entered in the Patel. case. >> Thank you judge. >> Thank you everyone. That'll complete the. hearing on Patel. >> And that was it. The whole court. appearance lasted less than three. minutes and Mr. Patel was a free man. He. spoke with Atlanta news outlet 11 Live. after the hearing saying, "I feel. relieved to be honest with you. This. thing was hanging on my head for a long. time and our family went through a lot. of hell. You know, we went through this, but today is a day of celebration and. I'm thankful that I'm out." Okay, so we. wanted to get a behind-the-scenes look. at this investigation into Miller's.

claims, the push to find out what really. happened. Also, this case just being. thrown out. So to do that, I am pleased. to welcome back here on Sidebar, Patel's. defense attorney, Ashley Merchant, as. well as her investigator, Charles. Middlestat. Thank you both so much for. coming on. Congratulations. This is a. huge win. I mean, Ashley, last time you. and I spoke, I got to say, uh, what you. were telling me about the surveillance. footage and what it shows. I'm not surprised by this outcome. I.

mean, it took a little while. Obviously, Mr. Patel was saying how he and his. family went through hell for this to. actually get to this resolution. How is. he feeling right now? What kind of. impact has this had on him and his. family? >> Yeah. Um that's a great question, Jesse. He is just thrilled right now. But um. you know, we had him sort of put. together a a statement about how it. impacted his family and reading it just. really um upset me because he's got two. very successful, wonderful daughters. He's got a very close family. He cares.

for his mother. his wife cares for her. mother and just the impact on all of. them. Um I don't think people realize. how impactful it is when someone is. taken from their lives for 40ome days um. without warning, you know, and how it. impacted all those other people. Um he's. he's he's got such a wonderful outlook. about everything. He's so much more. positive than I am, you know. He's like, "Oh, the system worked. I'm free." And. I'm like, "No, the system failed you. You were in jail for almost, you know, two months." Um, but he is much more. positive than I think most people would.

be under this circumstance. But he's. very happy that it's finally behind him, at least the criminal charges. Um, and. that he can close that chapter. >> That that's incredible. That's an. incredible outlook on life. Um, now. Charles, before I get to your role, uh, in this investigation, Ashley, you got. to explain to me what happened behind. the scenes. So, prosecutors said they. dropped the charges because they were. quote satisfied that the ends of justice. have been met. What does that mean? Basically, it means this was a mistake. Um, you know, that that Mr. Patel is not.

a kidnapper, a predator, not a fear, you. know, to to reaffend, to do anything in. the community and that they just decided. not to to prosecute the case. We filed a. speedy trial demand. So, I think that. was instrumental in getting this result. Um, because oftentimes cases take years. in the criminal justice system. Um, we. had in Georgia, we've got a a statutory. speedy trial demand statute and so we. have to file it within a certain amount. of time. We filed it in June and it was. set for trial in a week. It was set for. trial August 18th. So that sort of sped.

up the wheels of justice. Um but they're. saying that they they think that this is. the just result and we think it's the. right result. I mean we think it. definitely should have been dismissed. and we're glad that it was done. >> quickly. >> Again, Charles, I'll get to you one. second. I have to ask one followup here, Ashley. >> I'm confused. Were they fighting your. argument? Were they saying, you know, I. know uh Miss Merchant is saying that the. footage exonerates her client. We. disagree. We think the footage says. something else. I'm not sure where the. 180 came from because again when you and. I spoke and I don't remember how long.

ago that was. I I was curious whether. the next week it might get dismissed. What were they fighting it? >> Yeah. I think that was May. That was. right after Mr. >> Yeah, it was I think it was May. >> Yeah, it was May. Um and you know I. agree. I mean it should have been. dismissed back in May. I think it should. have been dismissed in March when he was. arrested or never happened. never been indicted. >> Yeah, it exactly, Charles. It never. should have been indicted. And that's, you know, that's the travesty here. Um, why did it take so long? That's a good.

question because there was no new. evidence. You know, everything was known. at the time that it was indicted. It. shouldn't have gone this far. It. definitely shouldn't have gone this far. So, what transpired, our willingness to. go to trial, them not wanting to go to. trial, I think that might have been, you. know, a little bit different. But what I. think is really interesting to your. question is if you go back and you look. at the bond hearing. Um, you know, they. were fighting and saying Mr. Patel. shouldn't even get a bond that he was. this huge danger and this, you know, predator and all this stuff and then. there was a 180. So, you know, and that. prosecutor who was at the bond hearing.

making those arguments was nowhere to be. seen yesterday in court. >> So, I don't know if maybe cooler heads. prevailed. Um, you know, I also think. it's interesting that prosecutor who was. in court at the bond hearing, a lot of. folks watched that bond hearing. He used. to be the chief of police at Aworth. police which that's the jurisdiction. that made this arrest. So, you know, we. wonder if that played into it because. he's protecting his officers. I mean, these are his officers. He was their. chief, you know, and if maybe that was. the push and then cooler heads were able. to look at the case and say, "I don't. think so.". >> Let's put that on pause because I have a.

follow-up question. I want to go to. Charles now. So, Charles, what was your. role in this investigation and in this. case? And I will also ask you what. surprised you the most during the course. of your uh your investigation. >> So in a in a case like this, Jesse, the. first thing we want to do is is hit the. ground u as quickly as we can. And so uh. first it was deploying and triggering an. investigation into Miss Miller. Uh. again, this the credibility here was um.

her credibility was very much at issue. Of course, we knew just from the video. surveillance footage that just on its. face, uh, if you, if you looked just at. the, you know, the way that law. enforcement sort of focused on the. interaction that they claimed was. depicting criminal intent and attemp. attempted abduction. It obviously was. very ambiguous, but as you sort of pull. out almost like uh you know focusing a. lens and then as you pull out and look. at the bigger picture, you start to see.

that Mr. Patel's actions were completely. inconsistent with someone who just was. involved in a failed uh attempted. abduction. And so, and we also saw. immediately that there was a a direct. witness there. there was a the witness. in in the immediate proximity of this. who was looking and in fact engaged with. Miss Miller and so trying initially. trying to identify um the witnesses uh.

because we as you know in cases Jesse we. get these redacted incident reports that. provide little to nothing until we. actually. get discovery and that's by the time you. get discovery it's too late that means. the case has been indicted and the train. is already way down the tracks and so we. were able to identify all of the. witnesses by reaching out to Walmart, by. um looking at social media, etc., and. also triggering an investigation into. Miss Miller herself. And so those were.

sort of the initial steps. And it was it. was obvious that law enforcement had. really had this funnel vision. immediately and that had they pulled the. lens out and looked at this in a much. more objective fashion, they would have. seen that Mr. Patel's actions were. completely inconsistent. In fact, that. he and Miss Miller had two other. encounters subsequent to the the alleged. abduction and that in fact she engaged. him and he showed her, "Hey, I found, you know, these pills that I was looking. for and that it's clear that the direct.

witness who was literally just within. feet of this event clearly was not. alarmed. this was inconsistent with. someone who would have just witnessed an. attempted abduction and that while law. enforcement had presumably spoken to. that individual, they they whatever. interview they did was far from um what. I would consider to be forensic in. nature. It certainly wasn't probing. It. certainly was not objective because had. it been, they would have learned what we.

learned from that witness and that that. witness did not believe that he had seen. an attempted abduction. In fact, there. was nothing alarming about what he had. witnessed. And so, it's sad because this. is a, you know, a case of a good. Samaritan who has been penalized. severely and and really this should be a. cautionary tale for law enforcement to. to to really be very very judicious in. terms of obviously very serious. allegation. I mean, these things happen. and uh they are to be taken very.

seriously. But but on its face that that. video was somewhat ambiguous. There's no. audio. you can't tell what occurred. It's kind of grainy and so it's not. something that you should rush to. judgment on, particularly given Mr. Patel's actions, paying with his own. credit card. He's in the store for quite. some time thereafter. He engages with a. Walmart greeter on the way out and he's. the one who initiates that engagement. These are not the actions of a of an. individual who is um who just is again.

has been involved in a failed attempted. abduction. A and Charles, just to follow. up, what did you learn during your. investigation of Miss Miss of Miss. Miller that provided context into this. case? >> Well, I want to be careful about how you. sort of characterize that. We learned a. lot. Let me suffice it to say, we. learned a lot. There's a lot of um. there's a lot of documentation out. there. There's a lot of public records. that exist with regard to Miss Miller's. interactions with law enforcement. historically. And um obviously, they're.

available to everybody. They are public. records. And so from a law enforcement. perspective, you should immediately. understand that she has had a lot of. interactions with law enforcement that. she understands sort of how this works, how the criminal justice system works, what it's like to make a report, what. the consequences are of making report, the importance of being truthful and. accurate in the reporting. And so, you. know, I think the I think the reporting. would speak for itself and it would have.

spoken for itself had this case gone. forward. >> Um, I think it would have become pretty. significant. >> Yeah. >> Yeah. You could summarize that sort of. and Charles and I talked about this. She. was quick to call the police, you know, she was real fast to call the police and. so I think that might have played into. this this case, you know. H. >> have have Mr. Patel and Miss Miller. spoken at all since this happened, since. the resolution of this case? any. communication whatsoever. >> Well, so in Georgia, we have what's. called Marcy's law, and that is a a a.

law that a lot of a lot of states have. that say that we are not allowed to. contact the alleged victim, whether. they're alleged victim, victim, you. know, there's no there's no way to. determine if you're actually truly a. victim. And so, because of that, we. weren't able to contact. Although, and I. think this was referenced in court. yesterday, we did have a meeting on. Monday where everybody appeared on. video. We can't really talk about any of. the things that were said during that. because it's sort of a pre-trial um. discussion, but it was a time even. though it's not face to face in person.

um face to face on video at least to to. meet everyone. So that was organized and. that was done. >> Okay. Let let me ask you this. Has. Miller in any way said, you know, I was. wrong. I I I thought something. I'm. seeing this now. I was wrong about my. perception about what happened? >> You know, there's not been any. statements like that. um our impression. of what um you know just talking with. with everyone involved was that this was. just a rush to judgment on the part of. you know Miller the police but mostly. the police but it's been interesting you.

know mostly mostly a rush to judgment on. the police I think everybody assumes. that when you call the police they're. going to investigate and Charles said. earlier they have tunnel vision that's. the problem you have tunnel vision this. could have easily been looked at a. different way and it's you know and. there's a couple things I can point out. if if the police had looked at Mr. Patel's phone which he was freely gave. to them. They would have seen that he. was texting with his daughter who is a. medical student who helped care for his. elderly mother and she was sending a. picture of the Tylenol that he is. clearly looking for a specific type of. Tylenol. That would have been very. informative. Um you know if they had.

seen that they would have seen if they. had called any family members they would. have known he cares for his elderly. mother. She has osteoarthritis and she. takes a specific type of Tylenol. That's. very reasonable. And so these are just. little things that the police could have. done to have corroborated innocence. >> Charles, did you have conversations with. law enforcement? >> No. Uh, and honestly, it just wasn't. even necessary. We had so much to work. with just, you know, Jesse, it was just. sort of puzzling that this even got to. this point because just based on the.

evidence that we had and thank God for. digital evidence, right? I mean, we feel. like our our privacy is invaded on the. daily all day, but in circumstances like. this, thank goodness Walmart has, you. know, an extensive video surveillance. system within within their stores and. that we, you know, we had sufficient. evidence to be able to show the various. phases of Mr. Patel's movement. throughout the store. We would have been. able to present the fact that he used. his credit card. You can actually see. him at the checkout using a credit card.

We we got to see that he was engaged. with uh with the shopper. You can see. the three different interactions that he. had with Miss Miller where he literally. shows her, hey, I found the pills. Um. and her pointing I think they're in that. direction. And then when he and then he. walks right back by her, there's so many. instances where the context of his. interactions with her and his time in. Walmart becomes so significant. Had law. enforcement taken the time to look at.

that. I don't I mean what Ashley says is. a thousand% right, but I don't even. think they even had to get to the point. of looking at you know doing a celebrate. dump on his phone to realize like this. is a guy who literally went in there for. one purpose and one purpose only which. was to find some Tylenol for his mother. and that that was his mission and that. he interacted with in fact at some point. he interacted with a Walmart clerk who. literally walked him to to the pills to. the Tylenol and so there's nothing that.

he did. There's no evidence that he was. loitering around the store looking for. targets of an abduction. Nothing. There's nothing that would be remotely. consistent with law enforcement's theory. that they ultimately bought into that. this is what that was. And rather it was. just a very very spontaneous event where. he was being a good Samaritan and he was. trying to protect a child who he thought. was fallen who was being driven around. by the way by a mother in a cart that is.

reserved really is designed to be. accessible for the disabled not for. someone who wants to you know ride. around with two children. Before we wrap things up, Ashley, just. jumping on something that you said at. the beginning. You basically said that. Mr. Patel has finished the the criminal. case, right? The criminal case is put. behind him. What about the civil case? Is there any is he considering taking. any sort of civil action, any sort of. law, legal action, and who would that be.

against? >> Well, we always keep all of our options. open. Um, how we operate is we always. want to resolve a criminal case. completely and successfully and we don't. want to cloud our judgment on a criminal. case with the thoughts of a civil case. because that's very difficult. But there. are a lot of actors here that that. thinks that were wrong and took. significant liberties that caused harm. to Mr. Patel. So, you know, we're always. going to evaluate those options. We. don't have any concrete plans, I can. tell you, at this point, but we are not. leaving Mr. Patel. We've all become very. good friends with Mr. Patel and his.

entire family. He's a great guy. And so, um, you know, we're going to keep all. those options open. >> Ashley Merchant, Charles Middlestat, thank you both so much for coming on. Really appreciate it. >> Thanks. Great to see you. >> That's all we have for you right now. here on Sidebar, everybody. Thank you so. much for joining us. And as always, please subscribe on YouTube, Apple. Podcast, Spotify, wherever you should. get your podcasts. I'm Jesse Weber. I'll. speak to you next time. [Music].