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Indian-American files lawsuit over false Walmart kidnapping charges
The lawsuit alleges police and prosecutors ignored surveillance video and pursued false felony charges.
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Malvika Choudhary - Wed, 11, Feb 2026
- 12:00 EST
- 41
Mahendra Patel / Acworth Police Department
An Indian-American man who spent nearly seven weeks in jail after being falsely accused of kidnapping at a Georgia Walmart store in 2025 has filed a federal lawsuit against local authorities.
Georgia resident, Mahendra Patel has filed the civil rights lawsuit naming Acworth police detective, the Acworth Police Department, the Cobb County District Attorney's Office, and others as defendants.
The civil rights lawsuit has been filed behalf of Mahendra Patel, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia.
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The complaint alleges that authorities pursued felony charges without probable cause and detained Patel for 47 days despite surveillance video showed no crime occurred.
Patel, 57, was arrested on March 24, 2025, following a brief interaction inside a Walmart store in Kennesaw, Georgia. A woman later identified in court records as Caroline Miller told police that Patel tried to take her two-year-old son, describing the encounter as a “tug of war.”
Patel was charged with criminal attempt to commit kidnapping, assault, and battery and was denied bond, leading to his detention in the Cobb County jail.
According to the lawsuit, store surveillance footage reviewed by police the night of the incident showed no use of force, no injury, and no attempt to remove the child from his mother’s custody.
The complaint states that Patel had asked Miller for directions to Tylenol and briefly steadied the child when he appeared to lose balance, before continuing his shopping. Video later made public appeared to show Miller giving Patel a thumbs-up moments after the interaction.
The filing further alleges that when Patel’s defense sought access to the surveillance footage, prosecutors attempted to block its release and moved to pursue an indictment the same day.
Public attention grew around the case, with community members and civil rights advocates questioning why charges were pursued despite video evidence.
All criminal charges against Patel were dismissed on Aug. 6, 2025. In earlier court proceedings, a judge granted Patel bond set at $10,000 after he had already spent more than six weeks in custody.
After his release, Patel described the experience in interviews as a “nightmare,” saying a routine shopping trip turned into weeks of incarceration before the charges were ultimately dropped.
“This case is not about a good-faith error,” said Solomon Radner, a civil rights attorney with Radner Law Group. “It raises serious questions about what happens when exculpatory evidence is ignored, and the system continues forward anyway.”
Marc Grossman, a partner at Milberg, said the lawsuit seeks accountability for what the complaint describes as a deliberate abuse of power. “Civil rights are meaningless if police and prosecutors can knowingly proceed with false charges and face no accountability,” Grossman said.
Patel alleges lost wages, emotional distress, reputational harm, and significant legal costs, and is seeking compensatory and punitive damages, attorneys’ fees, and a jury trial.
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