Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
California Woman Who Accused Black NYC Teen of Stealing Phone Is Jailed
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 4 years ago on
January 8, 2021

Share

NEW YORK — A woman who falsely accused a Black teenager of stealing her phone and then tackled him at a New York City hotel was arrested in her home state of California.

Miya Ponsetto, 22, was jailed Thursday in Ventura County, a spokesperson for the sheriff’s office there said. It wasn’t immediately clear what charges she might face.

The New York Police Department flew detectives out to California earlier Thursday with a warrant for Ponsetto’s arrest. The trip followed days of intense media coverage of the fracas at the hotel and demands by the teen’s family and activists that she face criminal charges.

Ponsetto’s lawyer, Sharen Ghatan, said 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 teen’s father, jazz trumpeter Keyon Harrold, recorded the confrontation and put the video online.

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

Security 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.

She Drove Two Blocks Before Stopping Her Vehicle, Then Refused to Get Out of the Car

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

The altercation drew comparisons to cases like that of Amy Cooper, a white woman who was charged with filing a false report for calling 911 and saying she was being threatened by “an African American man” during a dispute in New York’s Central Park in May.

Ventura County Sheriff’s deputies arrested Ponsetto after spotting her driving near her home in Piru, northwest of Los Angeles, said department Capt. Eric Buschow.

She drove two blocks before stopping her vehicle, then refused to get out of the car, Buschow said.

“She tried to slam the door on one of the deputies and that’s when they just reached in and forcibly removed her,” he said, adding that the sheriff’s office would ask county prosecutors to charge her with resisting arrest.

Ghatan said she spoke to her client earlier Thursday, and that “she strikes me as someone who’s unwell.”

She said Ponsetto “lashed out” over worry about her phone disappearing, and that it wasn’t racially motivated.

It “could have been anyone,” she said.

RELATED TOPICS:

DON'T MISS

What Are Fresno Real Estate Experts Predicting for 2025 and Beyond?

DON'T MISS

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

DON'T MISS

Fresno Unified Substitute Teacher Arrested in Online Child Exploitation Case

DON'T MISS

Investors Buy Fig Garden Village. How Much Did It Sell For?

DON'T MISS

Fresno County DA Wants Teens Tried as Adults in Caleb Quick Murder

DON'T MISS

State Farm Wins First-Ever Emergency Rate Hike in California

DON'T MISS

Work Permits Reinstated for UC Merced International Students, Anxiety Persists

DON'T MISS

Tatum to Miss Remainder of Playoffs After Achilles Tendon Surgery

DON'T MISS

Fresno Police Seek Public’s Help Identifying Shooting Suspect

DON'T MISS

MLB Reinstates Pete Rose and Shoeless Joe Jackson, Making Them Hall of Fame Eligible

DON'T MISS

Karbassi Running for Fresno County Elections Clerk, Says He Can ‘Do Better’

DON'T MISS

Global Eggs Completes Acquisition in US, Closes New Deal in Europe

UP NEXT

Cassie Testifies in Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sex Trafficking Trial. What to Know About the Star Witness

UP NEXT

Jayson Tatum Carried off Floor With Right Leg Injury and Celtics Star Will Have MRI

UP NEXT

Dallas Mavericks Win the NBA Draft Lottery, Eye Cooper Flagg for No. 1 Pick

UP NEXT

US Inflation Stable Before Expected Jump From Tariffs

UP NEXT

Trump Plans to Accept Luxury 747 From Qatar to Use as Air Force One

UP NEXT

‘The Studio’ Knows the Real Reason Movies Are Bad

UP NEXT

India and Pakistan Agree to a Ceasefire After Their Worst Military Escalation in Decades

UP NEXT

Ukraine and Allies Urge Putin to Commit to a 30-Day Ceasefire or Face New Sanctions

UP NEXT

Israeli Airstrikes Kill 23 in Gaza as Outcry Over Aid Blockade Grows

UP NEXT

Experts Call Kennedy’s Plan to find Autism’s Cause Unrealistic

State Farm Wins First-Ever Emergency Rate Hike in California

5 hours ago

Work Permits Reinstated for UC Merced International Students, Anxiety Persists

6 hours ago

Tatum to Miss Remainder of Playoffs After Achilles Tendon Surgery

6 hours ago

Fresno Police Seek Public’s Help Identifying Shooting Suspect

6 hours ago

MLB Reinstates Pete Rose and Shoeless Joe Jackson, Making Them Hall of Fame Eligible

6 hours ago

Karbassi Running for Fresno County Elections Clerk, Says He Can ‘Do Better’

7 hours ago

Global Eggs Completes Acquisition in US, Closes New Deal in Europe

8 hours ago

‘I Never Said He Called My Son the N-Word.’ Fresno Unified Trustee Thomas Tries to Erase Accusation Against Former Bullard Coach

9 hours ago

UnitedHealth Group CEO Steps Down as Company Lowers, Then Withdraws Financial Outlook for 2025

10 hours ago

FDA and RFK Jr. Aim to Remove Ingestible Fluoride Products Used to Protect Kids’ Teeth

10 hours ago

Fresno Unified Substitute Teacher Arrested in Online Child Exploitation Case

A 43-year-old Fresno man identified as a certified substitute teacher with the Fresno Unified School District has been arrested for allegedl...

1 hour ago

https://www.communitymedical.org/thecause?utm_source=Misfit+Digital&utm_medium=GVWire+Banner+Ads&utm_campaign=Branding+2025&utm_content=thecause
Carlos Gonzalez, 43, of Fresno, a substitute teacher at Fresno Unified School District has been arrested for allegedly attempting to meet a minor for sex after contacting the child through a messaging app, prompting authorities to urge potential victims to come forward. (Fresno County SO)
1 hour ago

Fresno Unified Substitute Teacher Arrested in Online Child Exploitation Case

4 hours ago

Investors Buy Fig Garden Village. How Much Did It Sell For?

Fresno clovis caleb quick
5 hours ago

Fresno County DA Wants Teens Tried as Adults in Caleb Quick Murder

5 hours ago

State Farm Wins First-Ever Emergency Rate Hike in California

6 hours ago

Work Permits Reinstated for UC Merced International Students, Anxiety Persists

6 hours ago

Tatum to Miss Remainder of Playoffs After Achilles Tendon Surgery

Fresno police are seeking help identifying a suspect caught on video after a shooting near First Street and Belmont Avenue left one person injured on Sunday. May 11, 2025. (Fresno PD)
6 hours ago

Fresno Police Seek Public’s Help Identifying Shooting Suspect

6 hours ago

MLB Reinstates Pete Rose and Shoeless Joe Jackson, Making Them Hall of Fame Eligible

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend