57-year-old Mahendra Patel, an Indian-origin, Georgia-based man, who spent 45 days in jail earlier this year, after a woman brought an attempted kidnapping accusation against him, has finally been cleared of all charges. Patel was arrested in March after Caroline Miller, a woman, alleged that Patel tried to kidnap her 2-year-old child when they were shopping at the Walmart Cobb Parkway. Patel was charged with criminal attempt to commit kidnapping, which was later amended to attempted kidnapping, along with simple assault and simple battery, accusing Patel of causing “violent injury” by pulling on the child. Patel told the investigators that he held the child to stop him from falling and he exchanged a few words with the mother as well — about where to find one particular medicine in the store. As Patel was spending days in jail, his attorney secured the surveillance footage of the incident that gained national attention as Patel’s arrest was called a racial injustice.Contrary to the claims that Patel fled the store, the surveillance footage revealed that Patel paid for what he bought and exited the store without any rush. Hours later, Patel was arrested and he could not understand why he was being arrested and initially thought that they were arresting the wrong person. An online petition calling for Patel’s release drew nearly 100,000 signatures and Patel was released on bond after spending 45 days in jail. The Cobb County District Attorney’s Office released a statement, saying the decision to drop Patel’s charges came after a meeting between him and Miller, who expressed that they wanted to “put the incident behind them.” The office further stated they are “pleased to have facilitated a resolution and are encouraged by the willingness of both parties to engage in a constructive dialogue.”“It made me realize there’s justice out there. There are good people,” Patel said, adding that he will use his story as a lesson to be more vocal about those who are wrongfully jailed.
