Mahendra Patel Lawsuit Over False Walmart Kidnapping Charge

The Mahendra Patel lawsuit is a federal civil rights case filed on February 9, 2026, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, seeking damages from the City of Acworth, an Acworth police detective, the Cobb County District Attorney, a DA’s office investigator, and the woman who accused Patel of trying to kidnap her toddler at a Walmart. Patel spent 47 days in the Cobb County Jail before surveillance footage helped secure his release, and all criminal charges against him were dismissed in August 2025.¹²

What the Lawsuit Alleges

The case is docketed as 1:26-cv-00732-SDG. It alleges that investigators pushed the prosecution forward while ignoring Walmart security video that contradicted the kidnapping accusation, and that the failure to conduct a reasonable investigation cost Patel nearly seven weeks of his freedom. The complaint seeks compensatory and punitive damages along with attorneys’ fees.¹

“This case is not about a good-faith error,” attorney Solomon Radner said in a statement announcing the filing. “It raises serious questions about what happens when exculpatory evidence is ignored, and the system continues forward anyway.”¹

Patel is represented by Marc Grossman and Alex Straus of Milberg Coleman Bryson Phillips Grossman, PLLC, and Solomon Radner of Radner Law Group, PLLC.¹

Who Is Being Sued

The complaint names five defendants:

Detective James Evan Wallace, the Acworth Police detective who obtained the arrest warrant, sued in his individual capacity.
The City of Acworth, sued under a theory of municipal liability.
Sonya F. Allen, the Cobb County District Attorney, sued in her official capacity.
Temperance Stoddard, an investigator with the Cobb County District Attorney’s Office, sued in her individual capacity.
Caroline Miller, the accuser, sued in her individual capacity.

The Five Counts

The complaint pleads five causes of action:

Count I: malicious prosecution under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 against Wallace and Stoddard.
Count II: municipal liability against the City of Acworth under the Supreme Court’s Monell framework for maintaining unconstitutional policies and practices.
Count III: a “class-of-one” equal protection violation against Wallace and Stoddard.
Count IV: conspiracy among all defendants to deprive Patel of his constitutional rights.
Count V: state-law malicious prosecution against Wallace, the City of Acworth, and Miller.

What Happened at the Walmart

On March 18, 2025, Patel, a 57-year-old Acworth resident, was shopping for Tylenol at a Walmart on Cobb Parkway in Cobb County, Georgia. He approached Caroline Miller, a 26-year-old riding a motorized store cart with her 2-year-old son on her lap, to ask where the medication was. According to Patel’s attorney Ashleigh Merchant, the motorized cart clipped a store display as Miller leaned to point, and Patel reached down because he believed the child was about to fall.³⁴

Miller saw it differently. About 30 minutes after the encounter, she called the Acworth Police Department to report an attempted kidnapping. She later told WSB-TV that Patel had grabbed her son off her lap: “I’m like, ‘No, no … what are you doing?’ He pulled him. I pulled him back. We’re tug-of-warring.”⁴

Detective Wallace obtained an arrest warrant on March 21, 2025. Patel was taken into custody on March 24 and charged with criminal attempt to commit kidnapping, simple assault, and simple battery. A grand jury indicted him on April 3, and he was initially held without bond.⁴⁵

The Video That Ended the Case

Merchant has said Walmart’s security footage was “kept from us and from the public and from the Magistrate Court” during the initial proceedings, and that her team eventually obtained it directly from Walmart. She described the video as audio-less and somewhat grainy but said it clearly showed the motorized cart clipping a display, Patel briefly reaching toward the child, and Miller reaching back, with the child remaining on her lap throughout. There was no tug-of-war. About six minutes later, the footage showed Patel paying for his purchase and chatting with a store employee for more than 20 seconds before walking out.⁶⁴

Merchant presented the footage at a May 6, 2025 bond hearing, arguing it showed no evidence of assault or attempted kidnapping. Prosecutor Jesse Evans characterized the same video differently, describing Patel as “tugging on the 2-year-old boy’s leg.” The court granted a $10,000 bond, and Patel was released after nearly seven weeks in custody. He says he lost 17 pounds while in jail and received death threats and threats of violence from other inmates because of the nature of the charges.⁶⁷

On August 6, 2025, the Cobb County District Attorney’s Office entered a nolle prosequi motion, and Judge Gregory Poole dismissed all charges. District Attorney Sonya F. Allen said the decision followed a “productive meeting between the involved parties,” in which both Patel and Miller expressed a “shared desire to move forward and put the incident behind them.” Judge Poole said he was “aware of what I’ve seen in the matter.” No public information indicates Miller has faced criminal charges for filing a false report.²⁶⁴

The Earlier $25 Million Notice to the City

Before the federal case, Patel’s attorneys filed an ante litem notice in September 2025, a formal precursor to suit under Georgia law, against the City of Acworth seeking $25 million in damages. The notice alleged libel, slander, negligence, false imprisonment, and emotional distress, and accused the Acworth Police Department of pushing for a quick indictment while ignoring the surveillance footage. The City of Acworth denied the claim and disclaimed “any and all liability related to the matter.” City Manager James Albright said the city could not discuss it further because of pending litigation.⁸³

Where the Case Stands

The defendants filed a motion to dismiss on March 16, 2026. No ruling on that motion has been reported. The Cobb County District Attorney’s Office has said it is reviewing the lawsuit but had no comment.⁹

Patel has said he suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder and nightmares from his weeks in jail, and after the criminal charges were dropped he publicly called on authorities to “own up to the mistake” and issue an apology.⁷

Patel’s Prior Federal Conviction

Patel’s record includes a prior federal conviction that is likely to surface in the civil litigation. In August 2013, he pleaded guilty to a federal conspiracy charge for his role in a kickback scheme involving Atlanta Public Schools technology contracts. Prosecutors said Patel acted as an intermediary, disguising roughly $60,000 in bribe payments from a Detroit-based technology company as sales commissions for nonexistent consulting work, helping steer nearly $800,000 in APS project work to the company. His co-defendant was Jerome Oberlton, the former APS Chief Information Officer. According to a profile in Khabar magazine, Patel served six months in a federal prison camp.¹⁰¹¹

1
PR Newswire. Federal Civil Rights Lawsuit Filed Alleging Wrongful Prosecution and 47-Day Detention Despite Exculpatory Video
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FOX 5 Atlanta. Acworth Walmart Kidnapping Case All Charges Dropped
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Atlanta News First. Cobb County Man Seeking $25 Million From City of Acworth After Kidnapping Charges Dropped
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CNN. Mahendra Patel Caroline Miller Walmart Kidnapping Claim
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11Alive. Accused Attempted Walmart Kidnapper Mahendra Patel in Court
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ABC News. Georgia Walmart Alleged Kidnapping Attempt Charges Dropped
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FOX 5 Atlanta. Mahendra Patel Wants Apology After Kidnapping Charges Dropped
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WJCL. Georgia Walmart Kidnapping Lawsuit
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FOX 5 Atlanta. Mahendra Patel Walmart Snatching False Arrest Acworth Lawsuit
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FBI Atlanta. Former Consultant Pleads Guilty to His Role in Atlanta Public Schools Kickback Scheme
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Khabar. No One Bothered to Know Who the Real Mahendra Patel Is