A Georgia mother described a terrifying encounter at a Walmart where she said a man tried to snatch her two-year-old son from her arms.
Caroline Miller was shopping at the store in Acworth with her two young children on March 18 when a man, later identified by police as 56-year-old Mahendra Patel of Kennesaw, approached them and asked for help finding Tylenol.
At the time, Miller and her children were in a motorized cart because her four-year-old daughter wanted to ride it, WSB reported.
“When I pointed my arm out this way to point to the direction of where it was, that is when he reached down, put both of his hands on Jude, and grabbed him out of my lap,” Miller told WSB.
Panicked, she fought back.
“I'm like, ‘No, no, no, what are you doing? What are you doing?’” she recalled. “He pulled him. I pulled him back. We're tug-of-warring.”
Miller was able to pull her son away from the suspect, who backed off then proceeded to locate the Tylenol, pay for it and drive away, police said.
When officers with the Acworth Police Department responded to the Walmart, the suspect had already fled the area. A review of surveillance cameras combined with witness testimony led police to identify the suspect and secure a warrant, Sgt. Eric Mistretta with the Acworth Police Department said.
Patel was arrested on Friday and charged with kidnapping, simple battery and simple assault, police said. He is currently in custody at the Cobb County Adult Detention Center on no bond.
Police said the child was not injured in the incident.
“I'm just glad that he's still home with us,” Miller told WSB. She added that her children now know how to respond in dangerous situations.
“As much as we would think it would never happen, it will and does, and to be prepared for when it does.”
