Woman who attacked and falsley accused teen of stealing phone arrested

Miya Ponsetto, the woman who was caught on camera attacking and falsely accusing the teenage son of jazz musician Keyon Harrold of stealing her phone in a New York City hotel, was arrested but it wsan’t harmonious, police said.

Miya Ponsetto arrested

In coordination with New York City’s Police Department, Ventura County officers arrested Ponsetto, 22, on a fugitive warrant in front of her home in Piru, California, on Thursday, according to the Ventura County Sheriff.

A spokesperson for Ventura County Sheriff told NBC News Ponsetto did not stop her car after officers contacted her until she reached her home.

Ponsetto had to be forcibly removed from the vehicle, resisted arrest, refused to get out of the car, and tried to slam a car door on one of the deputies, the spokesperson said.

It was not immediately clear what charges Ponsetto faces.

Emotionally unwell

Ponsetto’s lawyer, Sharen Ghatan, told The Associated Press in an interview before the arrest that her client is “emotionally unwell” and remorseful for her Dec. 26 conflict with 14-year-old Keyon Harrold Jr. at Manhattan’s Arlo Hotel.

The 22-year-old woman caught on camera allegedly physically attacking a 14-year-old Black teen and falsely accusing him of stealing her phone was arrested in California.

In an exclusive interview, Miya Ponsetto and her lawyer spoke with @GayleKing hours before she was arrested. pic.twitter.com/ezaGkcWZ8j

— CBS This Morning (@CBSThisMorning) January 8, 2021

In an exclusive interview with Gayle King on CBS This Morning hours before her arrest, Ponsetto denied racially profiling Keyon Jr. The interview was so tense that at one point Ponsetto essentially told Gayle King to be quiet by saying “enough”.

Ponsetto says she admits she could have approached the situation differently “and maybe not yelled at him like that and made him feel some sort of inferior way and making him feel as if I was like hurting his feelings.”

She added, “I consider myself to be super sweet. I really never meant to hurt him or his father, either.”

But, when King pressed Ponsetto about the context of her actions, she responded, “How is one girl accusing a guy about a phone a crime? Where’s the context in that? What is the deeper story here?”

When King interjected, she told Gayle, “Alright, Gayle. Enough.”

The teen’s father, jazz trumpeter Keyon Harrold, recorded the confrontation and put the video online.

Miya Ponsetto accuses teen of stealing her iPhone

In his video, Ponsetto is seen demanding the Keyon Jr.’s phone, claiming he stole it. A hotel manager tries to intervene. Keyon Harrold can be heard in the recording telling Ponsetto to leave his son alone.

Security surveillance video later released by the NYPD shows Ponsetto frantically grabbing at the teen as he tried to get away from her through the hotel’s front door. She’s seen clutching him from behind before both tumble to the ground.

Ponsetto’s missing phone had actually been left in an Uber and was returned by the driver shortly afterward.

Ponsetto was booked at a pre-trial detention facility in Ventura, where she is being held without bail for the fugitive warrant, according to police.

She will remain there pending an extradition hearing to New York.