Sent to jail for trying to catch a falling child in an American supermarket

In March, Mr. Mahendra Patel, 57 years old, went to Walmart supermarket in Cobb County, northwest of Atlanta, Georgia, USA, looking to buy paracetamol. As he walked along the shelves, he saw Caroline Miller, 26 years old, riding an electric stroller, her two-year-old son on her lap, another older child sitting in the footrest of the car.

Mr. Patel approached and asked Miller for directions to the shelf containing paracetamol. As Miller pointed in the direction, her cart crashed into a shelf. Realizing that the child was about to fall off his mother’s lap, Mr. Patel reached out to catch her, but Miller thought he was about to pull her son off her lap.

“I said, ‘No, no. What are you doing?’ He pulled the boy, I pulled him back. The two sides struggled,” Miller told CNN in March.

Mr. Patel, a retired engineer, thought it was just a misunderstanding, then bought the medicine, paid and left the supermarket. But three days later, he was stopped by police on the highway and handcuffed on charges of attempted kidnapping, assault, and causing minor injuries. “The police said there was a warrant for my arrest, and that’s it, they took me to jail,” he said.

Before his arrest, Mr. Patel was a real estate investor and father of two children. He is also a board member of a global children’s support organization.

Instead of preparing to spend the summer with his family, he spent 47 days in jail without bail, enduring lengthy legal proceedings, malnutrition and threats while living among violent suspects.

During the first few days in the detention area, Mr. Patel had no medication to treat high blood pressure. During his time in prison, he lost at least 7.7 kg because he only ate rice with milk, beans and butter due to the lack of vegetarian options. His wife is away on business, and his two adult daughters live in another state. His mother was elderly and did not know English. She did not know that he was in prison, so he had no relatives to visit.

He was also threatened by some other prisoners to beat him in the bathroom, or demanded money for protection in prison, causing him to mentally collapse. He had to spend day and night meditating, reading religious texts, and studying the Bible.

In early May, after nearly two months of Patel being in prison, his lawyer Ashleigh Merchant collected a video of security cameras at Walmart. “There was no struggle. Mr. Patel and Ms. Miller only interacted for a split second. There was no assault, no assault, nothing like that,” Ms. Merchant confirmed.

In the blurry, soundless video shown by Merchant’s attorney at the bail hearing, Miller’s electric cart hits the corner of a shelf. Mr. Patel briefly hugged and lifted the child, and Miller reached back. Immediately after that, Mr. Patel took a few steps back, and Miller pointed in one direction. About six minutes later, the video shows Patel paying for the goods and walking out of the supermarket.

When the video was released, many people switched from criticizing Patel to supporting him. Right in court that day, he was released on bail of $10,000. More than 90,000 people signed a petition declaring his innocence.

Three months later, Mr. Patel’s legal battle ended when the prosecutor withdrew all charges. “If there were no cameras at Walmart, what would my life be like? The charge of attempted kidnapping is punishable by at least 25 years in prison, or life in prison. My wife and children may never see me again,” he said.

The Acworth Police Department has not commented on the prosecution’s decision to withdraw its case. Ms. Miller declined to comment on this information.

In September, Mr. Patel decided to sue, asking Acworth city officials to pay $25 million in compensation, alleging defamation, slander, negligence, illegal detention, and mental harm.

Acworth Mayor Tommy Allegood and the City Council reviewed the notice of action and voted to dismiss “all liability.” Mayor Allegood declined a request for comment, citing “the potential for litigation.”

Attorney Merchant warned about the haste in the police investigation. “Our system needs to be aware that there are innocent people being falsely accused every day. If the police do not investigate thoroughly before jumping to conclusions, the judge will not grant bail pending investigation. Coupled with the prosecution’s lack of transparency when providing evidence, these cases will continue,” she warned.