Harrold and his son are black and were guests at the hotel in Manhattan. The woman in the video appears to be White.
His video of the encounter was widely shared on social media, leading to a scream about what they believe was another incident of racial profiling against black men. The hotel apologized and called the woman’s behavior an ‘unfounded accusation, prejudice and assault against an innocent guest’.
A spokesman for Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance said his office was thoroughly investigating the incident, and the New York Police Department told CNN that a complaint of harassment had been filed at the Arlo Soho Hotel.
After investigating the incident, investigators are considering investigating the woman for assault and possibly major robbery or attempted robbery, Rodney Harrison, chief of detectives at the New York Police Department, said Tuesday.
The woman disputes the accusations against her
The woman did not come forward, but CNN was the first news organization to speak to her by phone on Tuesday, and she disputed Harrold’s report on what happened.
While the 22-year-old woman claimed she was assaulted during the altercation, CNN could not confirm her account with investigators or with the hotel where the incident took place.
In a 20-minute telephone interview, she said the incident unfolded after she first asked to see the hotel’s surveillance video to determine who might have taken her phone. She said she asked someone else in the hotel lobby to ’empty their pockets’ before confronting Keyon Harrold Jr., who she said was with her phone in his pocket.
“It was then that everything got a little more serious,” the woman said, referring to the interaction.
During the phone call, the woman’s version of the incident was sometimes shaky. She provided additional information about events that preceded and that were not related to the incident that CNN could not confirm.
Asked if she’s worried about the possible charges and in general how she’s portrayed in the video, she said: “Of course I’m worried. This is not who I am. I’m trying … hard to be sure make me always do the right thing. ‘
The woman told CNN that she was willing to cooperate with the ongoing investigation, but that she had not yet received a call from the NYPD and had not issued it herself. She also said she would be willing to talk to the Harrolds.
After agreeing to provide evidence that could help confirm her allegation that she was assaulted, she stopped responding to CNN’s phone calls and text messages.
CNN is not calling her at the moment because she said she was concerned about her safety unrelated to this incident.
CNN also requested a police report from the NYPD, but it did not want to provide one and said it usually is not in such situations.
Many who have seen Harrold’s video, including Bill de Blasio, Mayor of New York, claimed to have had racism. But there are ‘no’ at the moment ‘plans to charge the woman with a prejudiced crime, Harrison said.
“The investigation is still preliminary. There is still a lot of work to be done,” he said. “The complainants are working together and I am confident that the investigators from the first district will make an arrest on this sooner rather than later.”
Harrold says the meeting took place on the way to breakfast
The teenager tells her ‘this is my phone’ and his father tells him that he does not have to explain anything to the woman. The woman comes closer to them and demands that the case be taken off the phone.
She taps a male hotel employee on the shoulder and asks him to bring the phone to her. “Please get it back for me, please,” she says.
Elder Harrold replies, ‘Are you kidding me? Do you feel that there is only one iPhone made in the world? ‘ A man who identifies himself as the hotel manager asks to see the phone, but the teenager’s father refuses. “I’m trying to get this situation right,” said the driver.
In the video, as Harrold and his son try to leave the woman, they approach them and say, “I will not let him walk away with my phone.” The video then shows her on the floor, but it is unclear how she ended up there. She comes to them again and the teenager’s father is heard shouting for her to get her hands off before the video cuts out.
“I do not know what would have happened if my father had not been there,” the teenager said. Asked what he would say if he had the opportunity to speak to the woman, he said he would expect an apology. Then he said he would ask her, “why would she do such a thing to a child who has never met you?”
The woman’s phone was returned to her moments after the incident by a vehicle she used to check in at the hotel, Harrison said.
Hotel says ‘more could be done’ to defuse the dispute
“It would be horrible at any age, but it’s especially offensive that it happened to a child,” he said. ‘To Keyon Harrold Jr. and his family: ‘I’m so sorry it happened to you.’
In a statement, Arlo Hotels said “more could be done to ease the dispute.”
“We are deeply saddened by the recent incident of unfounded accusation, prejudice and assault against an innocent guest of the Arlo Hotel,” the statement read. “During the investigation into the incident, we learned that the driver on duty immediately called the police about the woman’s behavior and that hotel security intervened to prevent further violence. No Arlo guest – or any person – may be subject to to this kind of behavior. ‘
“As this year of racial awareness comes to an end, it is very worrying that incidents like this, in which a black child is considered and treated as a criminal, continue to happen,” Crump said in a statement.
“We strongly urge District Attorney Cy Vance Jr. in Manhattan to file assault and battery charges against this woman for sending the message that hateful, racially motivated behavior is unacceptable,” Crump added. “This is what it will take to bring about change. We are also calling for a civil rights inquiry into the Arlo Hotel for the implicit prejudice in the treatment of Keyon.”
CNN’s Melanie Schuman, Tina Burnside, Sonia Moghe and Kristina Sgueglia contributed to this report.