With Mahendra Patel out of jail on bond and public sentiment seemingly on his side, scrutiny has turned to the mother who said she saved her 2-year-old son from kidnapping.
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,” Merchant said during her client’s bond hearing last week.
One of those alleged false reports has now become part of the Walmart case. Merchant introduced it into evidence to show Miller has a history of making unsubstantiated allegations.
In 2019, she accused a Lyft driver of rape. The case was closed without any criminal conviction, although she later joined 18 other women in a class-action lawsuit against the rideshare company.
She discussed the alleged rape in a 2020 interview with CBS News.
“They didn’t even really say sorry at all. They just said, ‘OK, well we’re going to send you your money back,’” said Miller, 21 at the time. She claimed she was sexually assaulted after a night out celebrating her birthday.
“I didn’t even get an email. It was crazy,” Miller told CBS. “They kind of just pushed it under the rug, and were like, ‘whatever.’”
Merchant said Miller’s pattern of embellishment can’t be overlooked.
“It’s her karma that she will have to keep up with whatever she did,” Patel said, referring to Miller. He spent 45 days in a Cobb County jail cell based on what Miller told police.
Patel was arrested on March 21, three days after the alleged kidnapping. He was indicted on charges including attempted kidnapping, simple battery and simple assault. He was ordered held without bond until last week.
Miller’s account had not been put to the test by Acworth police or Cobb County prosecutors, who quickly put the case against 56-year-old Patel before a grand jury. The 26-year-old mother told cops she had to wrest away control of her son from Patel, and in the warrant for the real estate investor and father of two’s arrest, Miller states his actions placed her “in fear for her and her child’s safety.”
Merchant said she knew her client was innocent after viewing the surveillance video. Patel had gone to the Acworth Walmart to purchase some Tylenol. He had asked Miller, the boy’s mother, if she knew where he could find the over the counter medication.
Miller, driving a motorized cart, with her baby in her arms and the 2-year-old by her feet, directs Patel a few aisles over.
“Mr. Patel offered to hold the baby while she got up to show him where the Tylenol was to point. He believes fully that she’s (handicapped),” Merchant told the judge at Patel’s bond hearing last week.
He leans in and that’s when Miller said Patel tried to grab her son.
“We were tug of warring,” Miller said.
The surveillance video indicates otherwise. There’s no jostling over the toddler. Patel is seen with his arms outstretched but doesn’t seem to be attempting to pull the boy away. Miller appears to be smiling after their encounter.
Patel takes his time in the store, contradicting the police narrative that he fled in a hurry. On his way to the register, he sees Miller a second time and appears to show her the Tylenol. She responds with a thumbs up.
“He’s not fleeing, not in a hurry, not running away, not trying to hide what just happened,” Merchant said. “You don’t see anything.”
Before Patel leaves the store, Miller is seen backing the motorized cart into shelves near the pharmacy, where it appears she runs over her child’s foot.
“Mr. Patel went, got the Tylenol, and the video couldn’t be clearer,” Merchant said during the hearing. “Mr. Patel did not try to kidnap this child.”
Acworth police said they also used store surveillance footage to help track Patel down but have not commented on the video released by Merchant that appears to exonerate the accused man.
Meanwhile, public opinion swung dramatically in Patel’s favor since Merchant went public with the surveillance footage late last month. A petition for his release attracted more than 47,200 signatures.
“Of course they have no comment, knowing a innocent man is in jail,” one Cobb resident wrote on Channel 2 News’ website. ”I hope he sues the whole department for millions.”
Added another local viewer: “You’re a little late there Acworth. You held an innocent man for 45 days instead of jailing his accuser for false witness. Good going, Acworth. You’ll feel the pain when the lawsuit hits you.”
Cobb Superior Court Judge Gregory Poole said during the May 6 hearing that Patel was “entitled to a bond.”
“He doesn’t have any type of conviction that bothers me in terms of any type of violent behavior,” the judge said.
“Lot of ups and downs but I knew we had a team outside helping me,” Patel told reporters on May 6 after posting $10,000 bond. “Here’s my daughter. She is the champion. She worked day and night for me, and she’s the one got Ashleigh on the team.”
Prosecutors, meanwhile, aren’t backing down even though the video seems to have weakened their case.
“Today, a scheduled bond hearing was held for defendant Patel. … During its presentation, the State deferred to the judgment of the court pertaining to bond,” the Cobb District Attorney’s office said in a statement. “As was in the court’s authority, it determined a bond was appropriate.
“The fact that any defendant receives a bond does not influence how the State approaches a case,” the statement concluded. “We remain committed to the protection of children.”
Cobb defense attorney Holly Waltman told 11 Alive News the burden has shifted to the DA’s office now that it has the video.
“I think it more becomes a burden on the district attorney’s office to do what is right and what is right in the pursuit of justice rather than just furthering, what they know now from the video evidence, and based on what we’ve all seen in the video evidence, what really occurred that day,” Waltman said.
Patel is optimistic he’ll eventually be fully cleared.
“I’m a positive guy, so you got to take it one day at a time. Lot of ups and downs,” Patel said. “But I knew we had a team outside helping me. One day we’ll see the light, and then we see today.”
No trial date has been set. In the meantime Patel said last week he’s been craving a home-cooked meal.
“I’m picky about food, but I told my daughter and wife, I said, ‘I don’t care. Better than what I got over there,’” he said.
