Mahendra Patel’s Family and Friends Speak Out

“Hi…I was in the Walmart and had to rip my baby out of some other man’s hands because he was trying to snatch him,” Caroline Miller said after calling 911 on March 18, 2025 at 8:42 p.m.

“Someone tried to snatch your baby?” the 911 responder confirmed.

“Yes...It all happened so fast…He was in his 50s. Indian man. No hair on the top but around the sides grey hair. Probably five-eight.”

“This just occurred, correct?”

“About 30 minutes ago…I’m sorry, I would have called sooner, but I got my baby back.” Miller sounds almost sheepish about why she had taken so long to call. “You’re okay,” the respondent assures her.

As soon as his family and friends heard 56-year-old former engineer Mahendra Patel was in trouble, they kicked into high gear. But Patel’s first concern wasn’t himself — it was his ailing, elderly mother, who had to spend the night after his arrest without a caregiver. Patel wanted to make sure someone would pick her up. Then, he shared what happened with his family. A close friend coordinated with family to select one of Atlanta’s top criminal lawyers, Ashleigh Merchant.

“It’s been really tough,” a Patel family member told The Juggernaut. 

Mahendra Patel’s story is now infamous. He was buying Tylenol at a Georgia Walmart for his mother. He spoke to a woman, Caroline Miller, another customer, to ask where it was. That would be his biggest mistake, and result in three charges, a grand jury’s rushed indictment, and over six weeks behind bars. Now, his family and friends are speaking up and rallying the community. This is their story.