Charges against the former owner of a Bowmanstown convenience store accused of the indecent assault of a customer have been dismissed after the alleged victim failed to show up for court.

Bhaskarbhai Patel, 49, of Ben Salem, was scheduled to have a preliminary hearing Wednesday before District Judge William Kissner of Palmerton.But the alleged victim never showed up for the hearing. However, the dismissal gives the commonwealth the opportunity to refile the charges at a later date.Patel faced charges of indecent assault and harassment.According to an affidavit of probable cause filed by Trooper Erin Snyder of the Pennsylvania State Police Lehighton barracks:On June 4, at around 4:26 p.m., the victim entered Pappy's General Store, Bowmanstown, to buy a pack of cigarettes, according to the affidavit.After purchasing the cigarettes, the owner of the store, Patel, proceeded to give the victim her change back, the affidavit says.Patel walked out from behind the counter and gave the victim her change back, and, upon doing so, proceeded to place his arm around the victim, attempted to kiss her, and then grabbed her upper area with his right hand.Patel then followed the victim to her vehicle, where he proceeded to speak with a passenger in the victim's vehicle.The victim then reported the incident to PSP Lehighton, on the same date as it occurred.On June 6, at around 5:35 p.m., Snyder, along with Trooper Joseph Campbell, arrived at Pappy's General Store to speak with Patel about the incident.Patel denied intentionally touching the victim, and, instead, said that he was giving the victim a hug and may have accidentally touched her upper area, but denied "cupping" or "squeezing" her upper area.While speaking with Patel, Snyder observed there to be several surveillance cameras located within the store.Snyder then asked Patel if the cameras were in working order, to which he related that they were not.Snyder then requested Patel to view the area where the surveillance cameras are controlled, to which Patel agreed.Patel then lead Snyder and Campbell to the basement area of the store, where Patel pointed to a computer, indicating that the computer controls the cameras.The screen of the computer was black, but the light at the bottom right of the monitor was orange, indicating the monitor was in screen save mode.Snyder then asked Patel if she could turn on the computer screen, to which Patel agreed. Upon pushing the button, a four-paned surveillance view of the store appeared on the screen. The date and time stamp on each pane was consistent with the current date and time.Snyder then questioned Patel as to why he was not honest about the surveillance system being in working order. Patel said he did not know anything about computers; only his son did, and the last Patel was aware of, the surveillance cameras were not in working order, as he was told that information from his son.Snyder then requested Patel to provide a written statement to the events that occurred in this incident, to which Patel agreed.On June 7, at around 9:30 a.m., Patel arrived at PSP Lehighton, with his son, in order to provide a written statement describing the events that occurred during this incident. While providing the written statement, Snyder asked Patel's son if he could provide her with a copy of surveillance footage on the date and time this incident was alleged to have occurred, of which he agreed and said that he would do so.In the written statement provided by Patel, he continued to say that he may have touched the victim's upper area while giving her a hug, and that it was an accident, and not done intentionally.On June 10, at around 9 a.m., Patel's son arrived at PSP Lehighton, and provided Snyder with a DVD of the surveillance footage from the date and time this incident was alleged to have occurred.After obtaining the DVD, Snyder then viewed the surveillance footage from June 4, at which time she observed the following: The victim walked into the store and purchased a pack of cigarettes, at which time Patel provided the victim with her change, then pulled the change back and came out from behind the counter and put his arm around the victim's shoulders and attempted to kiss her. While attempting to kiss the victim, Patel put his right hand on her upper area, and squeezed it. During the entire interaction with Patel, the victim was clearly attempting to get away from him, police said.