Black 14-Year-Old Falsely Accused of Theft in a SoHo Hotel

Black Ambrosia

Well-Known Member
This story pissed me off and I hope they sue the hotel, the lady, everybody in that in the place!
I’m happy his father was there with him because who knows what would have happen if he wasn’t there.
At a minimum she would've stolen his phone and he might've been too shocked to stop it.
 

Black Ambrosia

Well-Known Member
Black Teenager Falsely Accused Of Stealing Cellphone At New York City Hotel Speaks Out: ‘I’m Still Kind Of Shellshocked’
December 29, 2020 at 11:22 pm

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) — Cellphone video taken Saturday captured a woman at a SoHo hotel falsely accusing a Black teenager of stealing her iPhone.

Mayor Bill de Blasio called what happened at the Arlo Hotel a racist incident. The NYPD disagrees.

On Tuesday, the 14-year-old at the center of the viral controversy spoke out for the first time, CBS2’s Mary Calvi reported.

“I’m still kind of shellshocked,” the teen said.

The woman wearing a mask accused Keyon Harrold Jr. of having her iPhone. His father, a Grammy-winning jazz musician, recorded the confrontation on his phone.

“This is my phone,” Harrold Jr. is heard saying.

“You don’t have to explain nothing to her,” Harrold Sr. says.

“Take the case off, that’s mine, literally. Get it back please,” the woman says.

The teen said Tuesday he is thankful his father was with him at the time.

“I don’t know what would have happened if my dad wasn’t there,” Harrold Jr. said.

“We came downstairs and we hit the lobby and she was all on him, asking for his phone immediately. But after the video cuts off, I mean, she basically tackles him. She scratches him and I was there to try to protect my little cub, the way a parent could possibly do,” his father added.
The footage shows the situation getting more intense.

“Are you kidding me? You feel like there is only one iPhone made in the world?” Harrold Sr. added.

“No, OK, then show me the … show me all my …,” the woman begins to say.

“No, get a life,” Harrold Sr. says, interrupting before adding, “You see two Black people.”

“No, I’m not letting him walk away with my phone,” the woman answers.

Later, Harrold Sr. tweeted a video, saying the woman tackled her son and calling the incident an assault.

“I’m a trumpet player, so now my hand’s bleeding because I’m trying to protect my son because of a crazy person saying he took her iPhone, and trying to go in his pocket, trying to go into my pocket,” Harrold Sr. said.

A short time after the incident an Uber driver who found the woman’s phone in his car returned it to the hotel.

De Blasio took to Twitter, writing, “This is racism,” adding he was sorry the incident happened.


Attorney Benjamin Crump added that he wants Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance to charge the woman. Vance’s office said Tuesday it is thoroughly investigating the incident.

On Tuesday, Harrold Jr. was asked what he would say to the woman if he saw her again.

“I would ask her why would she do something like this to a kid who has never met you at all. And I would ask just why?” he said.

Despite the mayor’s reaction, as of now the NYPD said it does not consider the hotel run-in as a bias incident. Chief of Detectives Rodney Harrison said, “There is no bias element to it.”

The NYPD says it has identified the woman in the video. She is a California resident, and police want to find and question her.
 

bzb1990

3b/3c. henna/cassia.
Both Harrolds are class acts.
I wonder why the chief of detectives would blithely say there was no bias element. What fairy world does he live in?
Reminds me of Holmes in A Study in Scarlet "...some bungling villainy with a motive so transparent that even a Scotland Yard official could see through it." Clearly Scotland Yard was still smarter than NYPD.
 

Belle Du Jour

Well-Known Member
Both Harrolds are class acts.
I wonder why the chief of detectives would blithely say there was no bias element. What fairy world does he live in?
Reminds me of Holmes in A Study in Scarlet "...some bungling villainy with a motive so transparent that even a Scotland Yard official could see through it." Clearly Scotland Yard was still smarter than NYPD.
Because they’d have to acknowledge their own bias first.
 

Ms. Tarabotti

Well-Known Member


Woman expected to be charged in alleged hotel attack involving Black teen​


Biba Adams
Wed, December 30, 2020, 8:58 AM EST




NYPD officials say their review of security camera footage from the Arlo Hotel in SoHo made all the difference.

New York Police Department has announced it will be pursuing charges against the woman who attacked Keyon Harrold Jr. after falsely accusing the teen of stealing her iPhone.
The identity of the young white woman has not yet been released.
The NYPD has announced they will be pursuing charges against the unnamed woman who attacked Keyon Harrold Jr. in a hotel lobby after falsely accusing him of stealing her iPhone.

The NYPD has announced they will be pursuing charges against the unnamed woman who attacked Keyon Harrold Jr. in a hotel lobby after falsely accusing him of stealing her iPhone.
According to Rodney Harrison, the NYPD chief of detectives, their review of security camera footage from the Arlo Hotel in SoHo made all the difference.

“After we were able to get video,” Harrison said at a news briefing. “we’re now looking to charge this individual with assault and maybe even look at grand larceny or maybe even attempted robbery.”

Read More: DOJ decline charges against officers in Tamir Rice case

The Manhattan district attorney’s office is also investigating the Saturday incident.
Grammy Award-winning jazz musician Keyon Harrold described it on his Instagram page. The account quickly went viral.
“This incident went on for five more minutes, me protecting my son from this lunatic. She scratched me; she Tackled and grabbed him,” Harrold wrote in the caption of the minute-long clip. In it, the woman can be seen repeatedly lunging at Harrold and his son, demanding that they prove the 14-year-old boy does not have her phone.
While the boy was not seriously injured, Harrold sustained minor scratches as he protected his child. He has also said his entire family is traumatized by the incident.

Read More: Eastside High principal Joe Clark, depicted in ‘Lean One Me,’ dies at 82

“My son, over and over again, he tells his mom, he tells me, ‘Why would she think that I would take her phone?'” Harrold told NBC News.
The family has retained attorney Benjamin Crump, who is calling on the New York D.A.’s office to charge the woman with assault and battery.
“This is what it will take to drive change,” Crump said in a statement. “It’s deeply troubling that incidents like this one, in which a Black child is viewed as and treated like a criminal, continue to happen.”

Read More: Louisville move to fire officers involved in raid that killed Breonna Taylor

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio called the incident an example of racism.
“It would be horrific at any age, but it’s especially offensive that it happened to a child,” de Blasio said in a tweet. “To Keyon Harrold Jr. and his family: I am so sorry this happened to you. Her behavior was an affront to our city’s values.”
Arlo Hotels also issued a statement of apology for not “de-escalating” the situation. Harrold contends the hotel manager empowered the young woman by also demanding that the boy show the phone.
Hotel officials said the phone was later returned by an Uber driver.

Have you subscribed to theGrio’s “Dear Culture” podcast? Download our newest episodes now!

TheGrio is now on Apple TV, Amazon Fire and Roku. Download theGrio.com today!

The post Woman expected to be charged in alleged hotel attack involving Black teen appeared first on TheGrio.

Do they have her name or don't they? She took an Uber at some point and the driver was able to return her phone to her.
 

Black Ambrosia

Well-Known Member

A Black musician's son was falsely accused of stealing a woman's iPhone. She disputes his account and accusations of racism​


(CNN) — Prosecutors in New York City are investigating an incident in which a jazz musician said his 14-year-old son was attacked by a woman who falsely accused him of taking her iPhone.

Trumpeter Keyon Harrold posted a video taken with his phone that shows the woman making claims against his son on Saturday at the Arlo SoHo boutique hotel.

Harrold and his son are Black and were guests at the hotel in lower Manhattan. The ethnicity of the woman in the video is not clear, although New York police described her as White.

His video of the encounter has been widely shared on social media, prompting an outcry about what many felt was yet another incident of racial profiling against Black men. The hotel apologized and called the woman's behavior a "baseless accusation, prejudice and assault against an innocent guest."

The prominent jazz trumpeter spoke Wednesday at a news conference and rally near the steps of New York's City Hall, where he was accompanied by civil rights attorney Ben Crump and the Rev. Al Sharpton. He also followed a rendition of "America the Beautiful" with "We Shall Overcome" in the late December chill.

"If I wasn't who I was ... this wouldn't even be an issue," he said before a meeting with the district attorney that was -- according to Crump -- arranged by Sharpton.

Harrold, who is from Ferguson, Missouri, said he had been racially profiled himself throughout his life. He noted that the hotel episode could have ended "wrongly" had he not been with his son at the moment.

"I want my son to grow up whole. That's all we want. ... I come from Ferguson and this has been my passport to the world," Harrold said, pointing to his trumpet. "And I can't even come downstairs in New York City ... and just go get brunch without being attacked and wrongfully accused of something."

Kat Rodriguez, the teen's mother, said hotel management was equally culpable for not deescalating the situation and for allowing the accuser to leave before police arrived. She demanded that the woman be charged with assault.

"This fight is not only for our son. It's for all of our sons and daughters," said Rodrigruez, who's a musician and a teacher. "If we were a family that didn't have these connections ... if I was a maid, this story wouldn't have hit the news. What about those people that don't get to get heard?"

Rodriguez, growing emotional at times, added, "I want to thank God because this incident could have ended very different. We have seen this ... I pray for the mothers and fathers who have lost their sons to racial injustice."

Rodriguez and others at the news conference asked what would have happened if a Black man or woman assaulted a White child and tried to take their phone.

A spokesman for Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance said his office "is thoroughly investigating" the incident, and the New York Police Department told CNN that a complaint for harassment at the Arlo SoHo hotel has been filed.

After viewing surveillance video of the incident, investigators are considering charging the woman with assault and possibly grand larceny or attempted robbery, said Rodney Harrison, chief of detectives for the New York Police Department, on Tuesday.

The woman disputes the accusations against her


The woman has not come forward, but CNN on Tuesday was the first news organization to talk to her by phone, and she disputed Harrold's account of what happened.

While the 22-year-old woman claimed she was assaulted during the altercation, CNN hasn't been able to corroborate her account with investigators or with the hotel where the incident took place.

In a 20-minute phone interview, she said the incident unfolded after she first demanded to see the hotel's surveillance video to try to pinpoint who may have taken her phone. She says she then asked someone else in the hotel lobby to "empty their pocket," before ultimately confronting Keyon Harrold Jr., who she maintained had her phone in his pocket.

"That's when everything got a little bit more serious," the woman said referring to the interaction.

Throughout the phone call, the woman's account of the incident was rambling at times. She provided additional information of events preceding and unrelated to the incident that CNN has been unable to confirm.

When asked whether she's concerned about possibly facing charges and overall how she is portrayed in the video, she said, "Of course I worry. That's not who I am. I actually ... try very hard to make sure that I am always doing the right thing."

The woman told CNN that she is willing to cooperate with the ongoing investigation, but she hasn't received a call from the NYPD yet nor has she reached out herself. She also said she'd be willing to talk to the Harrolds.

After she agreed to provide evidence that could help confirm her claim that she was assaulted, she stopped responding to CNN's phone calls and text messages.

CNN is not naming her at this time because she said she has concerns for her safety unrelated to this incident.

CNN also requested a police report from the NYPD, but it declined to provide one, saying it typically does not in such situations.

Many who have seen Harrold's video, including New York Mayor Bill de Blasio, have alleged racism. But there are no plans "at this time" to charge the woman with a bias crime, Harrison said.

"The investigation is still preliminary, a lot of work still needs to be done," he said. "The complainants are cooperating and I'm confident that the investigators from the first precinct will make an arrest on this case sooner than later."

Harrold says the encounter happened on the way to breakfast​


Harrold said in an Instagram post that he and his son had left their hotel room to get breakfast when they encountered the woman. It's not clear what occurred before he started filming, but in the video, the woman can be heard telling Harrold's son, Keyon Harrold Jr., to show her his phone.

The teen tells her "this is my phone" and his father tells him he doesn't have to explain anything to the woman. The woman comes closer to them, demanding the case be taken off the phone.

She then taps a male hotel employee on the shoulder and asks him to bring the phone to her. "Literally get it back for me, please," she says.

Jazz trumpeter Keyon Harrold, seen here at a conference in 2016.

The elder Harrold responds, "Are you kidding me? You feel like there's only one iPhone made in the world?" A man who identifies himself as the hotel manager asks to see the phone but the teen's father refuses. "I'm trying to settle this situation," the manager says.

In the video, when Harrold and his son attempt to leave the woman approaches them, saying, "I'm not letting him walk away with my phone." The video then shows her on the floor, but it's unclear how she landed there. She approaches them again and the teen's father is heard shouting for her to get her hands off before the video cuts out.

In his Instagram post, Harrold said the woman scratched him and grabbed his son. He told NBC that after the video cut off, the woman, "tackled my son, you know, trying to reach in his pockets, reach in my pockets."

Harrold suffered slight injuries but his son was not injured, the NYPD said. His son told ABC's "Good Morning America" that he's "shell-shocked."

"I don't know what would have happened if my Dad wasn't there, honestly," the teen said. Asked what he would say if he got the opportunity to speak to the woman, he said he'd expect an apology. Then he said he'd ask her, "why would she do something like this to a kid who has never met you at all?"

The woman's phone was returned to her at the hotel moments after the incident by a ride-share vehicle she used to try to check into the hotel, Harrison said.

Hotel says 'more could have been done' to defuse the dispute​


De Blasio on Twitter Monday called the incident "racism. Plain and simple."

"It would be horrific at any age, but it's especially offensive that it happened to a child," he said. "To Keyon Harrold Jr. and his family: I am so sorry this happened to you."

In a statement, Arlo Hotels said "more could have been done to de-escalate the dispute."

"We're deeply disheartened about the recent incident of baseless accusation, prejudice and assault against an innocent guest of Arlo hotel," the statement said. "In investigating the incident further, we've learned that the manager on duty promptly called the police regarding the woman's conduct and that hotel security intervened to prevent further violence .... No Arlo guest -- or any person -- should be subject to this kind of behavior."

Crump accused the hotel of empowering the woman's accusations by asking Harrold's son to prove his innocence and called for charges against her.

"As this year of racial awareness is drawing to a close, it's deeply troubling that incidents like this one, in which a Black child is viewed as and treated like a criminal, continue to happen," Crump said in a statement.

"We strongly urge Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance Jr. to bring assault and battery charges against this woman to send the message that hateful, racially motivated behavior is unacceptable," Crump added. "This is what it will take to drive change. We also call for a civil rights investigation into the Arlo Hotel for its implicit bias in its treatment of Keyon."
 

Black Ambrosia

Well-Known Member
If CNN was able to talk to her it's just a matter of time before other news outlets have her info. I think her name will be out there by the weekend. Her response is dumb but that's to be expected at this point. There's no excusing what she did. Absolutely shocked that she's no longer responding to CNN after saying she could corroborate her claims of being assaulted.
 

Black Ambrosia

Well-Known Member
Just checked out mom’s ig account. She’s been Beyoncé’s saxophonist for 10 years. Pretty cool that the boy has two very successful musician parents. You don’t see that everyday.

I hate that this woman robbed him and his dad of some cool father-son bonding time. This has the potential to really scar him. I’m glad they’re taking action to show him that it’s not ok.

1609394039070.jpeg
 
Last edited:

bzb1990

3b/3c. henna/cassia.
Apparently Nypd had identified her but they aren’t releasing her name. WW will always be protected no matter what and it sickens me.
.. something is merely a mental health issue when it comes to some, and others, they are instantly criminals, monsters, and even jailed in isolation for UNPROVEN and/or PETTY juvenile crimes (which they may even be proven to be innocent of decades later). latter, news would be digging into their family background, their school reports, state that their parents seemed off, that there's a bad smell coming from the neighbourhood, etc.
 

Kanky

Well-Known Member
The fact that she put her hands on that child and the hotel manager acted as if there was some obligation to prove his innocence to a random white person pisses me off. It reminds me of what happened to Ahmad Aubrey. They really feel deputized to police black people.
 

Belle Du Jour

Well-Known Member
She's a class act :rolleyes:
  • On February 28, 2020, she was arrested by the Beverly Hills Police Department in Beverly Hills, California for being intoxicated in public.
  • On September 1, 2020, she was arrested by the West Los Angeles California Highway Patrol for driving with a suspended license and failure to obey traffic lane.
 
Top