The Ceres man arrested and accused of grabbing a 14-year-old girl as she walked on the sidewalk near Standiford Elementary School in the 600 block of Tokay Avenue in Modesto in July has been exonerated by evidence obtained by his attorney.

Sandeep Singh, 42, of Ceres, had been facing kidnapping charges. The victim claimed an Indian man approached her in a vehicle which she described in detail. She told police that she was grabbed but broke free and ran to call 9-1-1. Modesto Police searched the area and found the vehicle she described with Singh in it.

Modesto police searched and found Singh and his vehicle in a nearby shopping center parking lot.

His defense attorney, Kirk McAllister, said the girl made up the whole story and falsely accused Singh as a suspect. McAllister proved the discovery in court last week after obtaining a previously unknown surveillance video of the scene shot from the Greek Orthodox Church of the Annunciation building. The video, which was subpoenaed, shows Singh driving by the girl in a yellow pickup without stopping. Once the video was presented to prosecutors, the alleged victim was questioned and admitted concocting the whole story. Deputy District Attorney Erin Schwartz then asked the court to dismiss the case, which was granted on Wednesday by Stanislaus County Superior Court Judge Ricardo Cordova.

During the investigation the girl went so far as to turn over to police a pair of pants she said became ripped at the knees during the struggle. McAllister said Modesto Police didn’t pick up on the inconsistency even though they knew the girl didn’t have scraped knees.

Singh said he is happy the truth came out and that “I got my life back” after it being “turned upside down.” He noted how he was completely shocked when police refused pleas to not arrest him pending an investigation.

It was not readily apparent why the girl made up the story or if she will be charged for filing a false police report.