A well-known jazz musician said his 14-year-old son was stolen from a boutique hotel in New York at the weekend and was falsely accused of stealing a woman’s iPhone. The incident apologized to the hotel and asked the family’s lawyer to file charges against the woman.
Keyon Harrold, a well-known trumpeter who performed with Beyoncé, claims that he and his teenage son, who are both black, were assaulted by the woman who claimed the child took her smartphone. He shared a video on social media that showed part of their meeting with her in the lobby of the Arlo Hotel in Manhattan.
The woman told the teenager to hand over the phone, but Harrold’s son replied, “This is my phone.” The woman stands behind a male hotel manager and continues to claim the device.
‘Are you kidding me? Do you feel that there is only one iPhone made in the world? ‘ Harrold is heard asking her.
The driver approached the boy and asked to see the phone and said he is driver at the hotel.
“I do not care, this is my son,” Harrold told him, adding that the two hotel guests were just coming down the elevator.
After the manager said he was just trying to help, Harrold replied, “But you’re not helping, what you are is disrespectful … My son has nothing to do with her.”
“No, he’s not going,” the woman said. “Show me the proof.”
The father and son walk away, but she follows them and seems to be hiding from the older Harold.
“No, get my phone back,” she said. “I can not have my phone!”
“Get your hands off,” Harrold said as the video ended.
Harrold wrote on social media that an Uber driver returned her phone after the ‘traumatic’ incident and said she did not apologize to him or his son. He also accused the woman of scratching him and claiming she had ‘tackled and grabbed’ his son.
In an Instagram message, the Arlo Hotels apologizes for the “recent incident of unfounded accusation, prejudice, assault against an innocent guest of Arlo hotel.”
“No Arlo gas – or any person – may be subjected to this type of behavior,” the chain said. “We would like to apologize to Mr Harrold and his son for this inexcusable experience, and to express their sincere regret and assistance in dealing directly with the traumatic event.”
The hotel chain said the driver called police about the woman’s behavior and hotel security intervened to prevent further violence. The NYPD told CBS News on Monday that they had received a complaint about the incident but did not comment further on an investigation.
Katty Rodriguez, the teenager’s mother, thanked followers on social media for their support and asked that the woman be identified in the incident. She also explained why the family continued with the allegations.
‘The only reason we decided to publish and publish on social media was because the hotel with a security guard on duty let this young lady go while she waited for the police to respond after she killed my son several times assaulted. video because my boys’ dad dropped the phone to protect our son! she wrote.
Ben Crump, civil rights lawyer, on behalf of the family in a statement encouraged the Manhattan District Attorney to file assault and battery charges on the woman who accused the teenager and allegedly assaulted her. He also called for a civil rights inquiry into the Arlo hotel due to ‘its implicit prejudice in the treatment of Keyon’.
This incident reflects a similar encounter earlier this year Christian Cooper, A black man, filmed Amy Cooper, a white woman, who calls the police in Central Park on him and falsely tells them that he is threatening her. She was charged with falsely reporting an incident in the third degree, a misdemeanor.