NEW YORK (1010 WINS) -- The family of a Black teenager who was falsely accused of stealing a woman's iPhone in the lobby of SoHo's Arlo Hotel plans to sue both the woman and the hotel chain.
Keyon Harrold Jr. and his family will be filing a lawsuit against California resident Miya Ponsetto, dubbed "SoHo Karen," and Arlo Hotels on Wednesday, civil rights attorneys Ben Crump and Paul Napoli, who are representing the family, said in a press release Wednesday morning.
Keyon Harrold Jr.'s father, jazz trumpeter Keyon Harrold Sr. — who filmed portions of the Dec. 26 incident — will be speaking at an 11 a.m. press conference announcing the filing of the suit, according to the release.
"In December 2020, Keyon Harrold and his son were racially profiled in an Arlo hotel in Manhattan by Miya Ponsetto, falsely accusing Keyon Harrold Jr. of stealing her phone and physically attacking him," the release said. "The incident was caught on video and went viral. The father and son were staying at the hotel and did not receive support from management."
On Saturday, December 26, the woman in this video falsely accused an innocent 14-year-old teenager of stealing her cellphone. She then proceeded to physically attack him and fled the location before police officers arrived on scene. pic.twitter.com/qtZZWetBWH
— Chief Rodney Harrison (@NYPDDetectives) December 31, 2020
"In fact, the hotel manager empowered Ponsetto by asking the minor to give his cell phone up to prove that he was innocent of the false allegations," the release added. "Her cell phone was later found in an Uber."
Ponsetto in January was arrested and charged with attempted robbery, grand larceny, acting in a manner injurious to a child and attempted assault in connection with the incident. In an interview with Gayle King that aired on "CBS This Morning," Ponsetto said she didn't "feel like this one mistake does define me."
"But I do, sincerely from the bottom of my heart, apologize if I made the son feel as if I assaulted him or I hurt his feelings or the father's feelings," she added, before claiming the incident wasn't motivated by racism.
"Basically, I'm a 22-year-old girl. I don't — racism is — how is one girl accusing a guy about a phone a crime? Where is the context in that?" she said.
In a statement released earlier this year, Arlo Hotels said it was "deeply disheartened about the recent incident of baseless accusation, prejudice and assault against an innocent guest of Arlo Hotel."
"In investigating the incident further, we've learned that the manager on duty promptly called the police regarding the woman's conduct and that hotel security intervened to prevent further violence; still, more could have been done to de-escalate the dispute," the statement read.
"No Arlo guest — or any person — should be subject to this kind of behavior," the statement added. "We want to apologize to Mr. Harrold and his son for this inexcusable experience, and have reached out to them directly to express our sincere regret and to offer help in dealing with this traumatic event," it added. "We are committed to making sure this never happens again at any of our hotels."
