Finest head west to get phone lady
NYPD detectives will fly to California with an ultimatum for the woman caught on video attacking and accusing a Black teen of stealing her phone: Fly to New York with us now to face criminal charges, or we’ll have you arrested and extradited.
Two officers with NYPD’s Manhattan South detective bureau plan to fly out Wednesday and link up with Los Angeles cops to find Miya Ponsetto, who wrongly blamed the 14-yearold son of Grammy-winning jazz musician Keyon Harrold of stealing her iPhone, police sources said.
The Manhattan district attorney’s office has signed off on third-degree attempted assault charges, the sources said. Once they find Ponsetto, they’ll talk to her and try to convince her to return with them, sources said.
If she won’t come, the NYPD will get a warrant for her arrest — meaning California authorities would arrest her, and she’d have to decide whether or not to fight the extradition process, the sources said.
A spokeswoman for Manhattan DA Cy Vance Jr. declined comment Tuesday night.
Ponsetto was recorded in a now-viral video confronting and then attacking Keyon Harrold Jr. in the Arlo Hotel in Soho on Dec. 26., sources said.
Keyon Harrold Sr. recorded the confrontation, and surveillance footage from the hotel shows her attacking him.
It turned out she left her phone in an Uber car, which returned it to her moments later.
The video sparked outrage and accusations of racism, and more than 100,000 people have signed an online petition posted by the Harrold family lawyer, Benjamin Crump, calling for Vance to press charges.
Harrold Sr. said Ponsetto singled out his son because he’s Black, and accused a manager from the hotel of empowering her by questioning him about the phone in his hand, demanding “What’s on your background?” before claiming, “I’m trying to settle this situation.”