Police say the woman who was caught on camera and assaulted jazz musician Keyon Harrold’s teenage boy and falsely accused him of stealing her phone in a New York hotel.
According to the Ventura County Sheriff, Ventura County officials coordinated with the New York City Police Department to arrest Miya Ponsetto, 22, on a fleeing warrant in front of her home in Piru, California.
A Ventura County Sheriff’s spokesman told NBC News on Thursday that Ponsetto did not stop her car after officers contacted her until she arrived at her home. Officials forcibly removed Ponsetto from the vehicle, saying she resisted arrest, refused to get out of the car and tried to slam the car door on one of the deputies, the spokesman said. It was not immediately clear what charges Ponsetto faces, but she is awaiting extradition to New York.
In an interview Thursday, attorney Sharon Ghatan said her client, who was not a guest at the hotel but intended to check in, briefly left her items unattended in the foyer when she picked up an item at Starbucks went to the toilet.
When she came out, Ponsetto realized her phone was missing, and asked several people in the foyer, including an ‘Asian gentleman,’ if they had taken her phone, Ghatan said.
The next people she asked were the Harrolds, who had just left the elevator, Ghatan said. A viral video of one minute of the December 26 incident showed Ponsetto suing the Harrold family before reporting her missing phone to management.
Tension increased as Ponsetto allegedly attacked 14-year-old Keyon Harrold Jr. police in New York City, saying the father sustained a scratch on his hand, but no other injuries were reported. His father suggested that racial prejudice plays a role in the quarrel.
Ghatan, who also represents Ponsetto in an unrelated case, doubled in an interview on Thursday on Ponsetto’s mental health issues, saying the incident “is not about race.”
“She suffers from a lot of anxiety attacks,” Ghatan said. “She was alone … 22 years old in a city she did not know, absolutely no one there and her phone had everything about it.”
Ghatan said she was concerned about Ponsetto’s well-being and said she was “emotionally and mentally ill.”
The lawyer confirmed on Tuesday that her client had left her phone in an Uber. According to Ghatan, the Uber driver would have returned her phone 15 minutes earlier had the quarrel not taken place.
She lost her mind for a hot moment. She’s sorry, “Ghatan said Tuesday. Unfortunately, these poor Harrolds had to deal with the aftermath. “
Ghatan added that her client ‘wants to go forward and put it behind her’.
According to court documents, Ponsetto was charged with public intoxication and battery for a hotel incident in Beverly Hills on February 28. The court documents show that she was also arrested on May 28 for driving under the influence in Van Nuys, California.
Ghatan said the charges related to the Beverly Hills incident have been heard. In September, a judge at the Van Nuys Courthouse West Ponsetto sentenced her to three years in prison after failing to plead a contest for driving under the influence.
Ghatan said she could not reach civil rights lawyer Ben Crump, who represents the Harrold family.
More than 100,000 people have signed an online petition by Civil Rights Attorney Benjamin Crump, requesting Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. to file assault and battery charges against Ponsetto.
“Keyon Harrold Jr. will live a lifetime with this trauma, the weight of racism on the shoulders of another generation,” Crump wrote in a statement. “He deserves better than this treatment!”
A DA spokesman in Manhattan earlier said the office was investigating the incident thoroughly.
At a press conference last Wednesday, Harrold, accompanied by Crump and Rev. Al Sharpton, spoke publicly about the incident.
“I can not even get down to New York City – the first city of New York – and just go to brunch without being attacked and wrongfully accused of it,” Harrold said. “The idea of trauma is higher than any charge that can ever occur.”
“I want my son to grow up whole,” Harrold said.
In an interview with “Good Morning America” on December 29, Harrold Jr. said he was “shocked” by the incident.
“I would ask her why she would do such a thing to a child who has never met you, and I would just ask why,” he said.
