Indian-origin man, Mahendra Patel, was at a Walmart store in Georgia two months ago, looking for Tylenol, when he came across a woman with two children and asked for her help, according to his lawyer, reported CNN. The woman was at the time riding a motorised cart.
She later claimed that Patel tried to grab her 2-year-old son, and that she had to pull the child back. A grand jury charged Patel with attempted kidnapping and other offenses. He has now been in jail in Cobb County, Georgia, for over 40 days without bail.
However, Patel tells a different story. His lawyer says store security footage shows he was only trying to stop the child from falling off the cart, which had just bumped into a store display.
Patel’s lawyer Ashleigh Merchant told CNN that the there is a clear surveillance footage which shows that he was neither kidnapping nor attempting to kidnap the child. “There was no struggle, nothing like that.” the lawaye said.
Ahead of the bond hearing on Tuesday, Merchant reiterated that her client was innocent. She pointed to store surveillance video from Walmart, which she obtained through a subpoena and shared with news outlets, including CNN, as part of her defense.
What exactly happened?
CNN reports that the incident took place on March 18 at a Walmart in Acworth, Georgia. Security footage, which has no sound, shows Mahendra Patel entering the store and later speaking to a woman named Miller, who was riding a motorised scooter with two young children—one on her lap and the other at her feet.
Patel asked Miller if she knew where to find Tylenol. As they moved near a display between aisles, Patel appeared to reach toward her lap. It looks like he briefly picked something up before Miller quickly pulled back. However, the video doesn’t clearly show what happened because Patel’s back blocks the view.
A nearby man noticed the moment but didn’t step in and eventually turned away. Soon after, the child was back in Miller’s lap, and Patel walked away in the direction Miller pointed.
The unclear footage has led to different explanations—Miller says Patel tried to take her child, while Patel’s lawyer claims he was only trying to help keep the child from falling.
In a March interview with local TV station WSB, Miller described the moment Patel reached for her child. She said that as she pointed in the direction of the Tylenol aisle, Patel suddenly leaned down, placed both hands on her son, and lifted him from her lap.
According to her, the incident happened very quickly. She recalled reacting in shock, asking what he was doing as she pulled her son back. She described it as a brief struggle, with both of them tugging at the child. Merchant however said that “there was no tug of war”.