‘Where’s the crime?’: Local attorneys stunned by Walmart surveillance tapes

But footage released by Patel’s lawyer this week has some attorneys scratching their heads.

“Where’s the crime?” asked former DeKalb County DA J. Tom Morgan. “This is why a prosecutor should never rush to judgment.”

Morgan showed the video to his criminal law students at Western Carolina University and told them their job was to “find the crime.”

“One of them asked if there was a shoplifting they missed,” Morgan laughed. “I mean give me a break.”

When told the footage showed an alleged abduction attempt, another student told his professor that he must have played the wrong video.

The video provided to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution features surveillance footage from the store that includes angles from multiple cameras and is labeled with descriptions of what Patel’s attorney says took place.

In a news release sent out after Patel’s arrest, Acworth police said they responded to the store March 18 after getting a call about a shopper who “attempted to snatch a juvenile away from their mother.” There was a struggle over the child, authorities said, but the mother was able to “break away” with her son before Patel “fled the area.”

The footage was obtained by Patel’s attorney, Ashleigh Merchant, who said she is also flummoxed by the security tapes that seemingly contradict what the woman told police.

The footage shows that Patel appeared to reach for the child at one point, but Merchant said her client was simply trying to keep the boy from falling off his mother’s motorized cart. The mom was riding through the store with her two young children on the scooter.

Acworth police watched the footage at the scene, and officers spoke with the mother at the store and later at her home before authorities swore out warrants for Patel’s arrest, according to an incident report.

Merchant said Patel was at the store buying Tylenol for his mother, who lives with him and his family. He asked the woman if she knew where the pain relievers were and was simply trying to be helpful when he realized her son might fall, she said. Then Patel casually walked around the store and chatted with employees before leaving with the medication he bought using his debit card, the Walmart video shows.

Credit: Courtesy

Credit: Courtesy

He also encountered the woman a second time on his way to the register and appeared to show her the bottle of Tylenol he had finally found, Merchant said.

His charges include attempted kidnapping, simple battery and simple assault, but because the DA’s office indicted the case so quickly, Patel never received a probable cause hearing, Merchant said. She said it could be weeks until he appears before a judge to request bond, calling the case “insane.”

“It appears the story’s all fallen apart,” said former Gwinnett County District Attorney Danny Porter. “I don’t see how they’re going to be able to proceed with that kidnapping charge, particularly with the defense that he thought the baby was falling and was trying to help her out.”

He said when police officers secure warrants for someone’s arrest, they have to rely on the evidence available to them at the time.

“This kind of a crime, if it occurred, is a crime that presents a danger to the public,” Porter said. “You got to work with what you have.”

But Porter said based on what he’s seen, the only option prosecutors have is not to pursue the charges further.

Credit: Contributed

Credit: Contributed

The AJC reached out to Cobb DA Sonya Allen for comment about the newly released footage and whether she thinks Patel’s charges are still warranted. She has not responded. It’s unclear if the grand jury that indicted him was shown any of the store’s surveillance video.

In a statement Thursday, Acworth police said they were aware of the “partial video” made public this week, and said the investigation is ongoing.

“At this time, we are limited in the details we can provide in order to preserve the integrity of the case,” a department spokesman said.

Based on what he watched, criminal defense attorney Noah Pines also seemed skeptical about the charges.

“I see zero evidence of any crime being committed,” he said, “especially an attempted kidnapping.”

To secure Patel’s arrest warrant, an officer must have sworn under oath, but Pines, who spent seven years as a prosecutor in DeKalb and Fulton counties, said judges rarely press police about the facts of a case when signing off on a warrant.

“If somebody attempted to kidnap your child, the first thing you would do is contact the police or someone from Walmart,” Pines said. “The last thing you would do is have other interactions with this person where you don’t appear to be distressed at all. It’s just bizarre.”

Defense attorney Doug Weinstein called the case ridiculous.

“This is the apotheosis of over-charging,” he said. “It is the ultimate example of the prosecution’s tendency to over-charge cases. Based on the video, there’s nothing there.”

Morgan said had there been a probable cause hearing before Patel’s indictment, he believes a judge would have dismissed the charges.

“When you rush it to a grand jury, the defendant doesn’t have the right to a probable cause hearing,” he said.

The former DA spent nine years prosecuting crimes against children and said that stranger-on-stranger child abductions are incredibly rare. When it does occur, it’s typically a carjacking case where a would-be thief doesn’t realize there’s a child strapped in the back seat.

“It’s rare that we see it, and the circumstances usually aren’t some guy buying Tylenol in a Walmart. This guy’s walking around talking to an employee.” Morgan said. “And if the child is really being abducted, why didn’t (the mom) get out of that chair?”

Merchant said she is working to have her client’s charges dismissed. But her first order of business is to get Patel a bond so he can leave the jail and reunite with his family. He has a hearing scheduled for May 6.