On March 20, 2025 at approximately 10:15pm, the Northampton Township Police Department took the report of an indecent assault of a juvenile female which occurred at the Dairy Queen restaurant, 922 Second Street Pike, Richboro PA. 

The female victim reported that she is an employee at the restaurant.  She told police that around 9:40 pm the same evening she was called into the office by the owner Parthkumar “Pete” Patel to discuss an employment issue. 

The two went into the closed office where Patel had her sit in a chair to fill out forms.  While completing the forms, Patel began massaging her shoulders and subsequently placed his hand down her shirt and onto her upper breast area.  This scared the female and she left the office. 

On her way out of the office two managers observed that the female was visibly upset and she told them what had happened.  She was then picked up by one of her parents who subsequently called police.

Detective John Gross interviewed the managers.  One stated that he went into the office after the victim had left the store.  He said that he had attempted to review the surveillance video but found that the timeframe when the owner and the female were in the office was missing from the surveillance system. 

Detective Gross subsequently interviewed Parthkumar “Pete” Patel who identified himself as the owner of that franchise/restaurant.  Patel was asked about the incident with the female in the office and acknowledged that the two of them were in the office for an employment issue but denied any allegation of touching her.  Detective Gross asked Patel about reviewing the surveillance footage of the timeframe in question but Patel told the Detective that the footage had “disappeared” from the system.

Through the course of the investigation, the surveillance DVR/recorder was forensically analyzed and the deleted video in question was recovered.  When reviewed, the footage confirmed what the juvenile female victim had reported to police.

On May 14, 2025 an arrest warrant was issued for Parthkumar Mukesh Patel charging him with the following violations of the Pennsylvania Crimes Code in relation to this investigation:

Corruption of Minors; Felony 3^rd degree (1 count)

Indecent Assault; Misdemeanor 2^nd degree (2 counts)

Tampering With or Fabricating Physical Evidence; Misdemeanor 2^nd degree (1 count)

Parthkumar Patel was subsequently arraigned by Judge Brian Marriott where bail was set at $75,000.00 unsecured and conditions of bail were that he have no contact with the victim and no unsupervised contact with any employee under the age of 18. 

Anyone with additional information regarding this case or a related incident should contact the Northampton Township Police Department at (215) 322-6111 and ask for Detective Gross.

NOTE: ALL SUBJECTS ARE CONSIDERED INNOCENT UNTIL PROVEN GUILTY IN A COURT OF LAW