Woman who attacked Black teen over iPhone arrested for DUI, public intoxication last year
Miya Ponsetto was previously arrested for refusing to leave a Beverly Hills hotel while she was intoxicated.
More details are emerging about the woman who attacked a Black teen over an iPhone in a New York City hotel last month.
Miya Ponsetto, who has been dubbed the “SoHo Karen,” was previously arrested months before her altercation with Keyon Harrold and his son, Keyon Harrold Jr. According to TMZ, 10 months before her attack on the Black teen, she and her mother were arrested for causing a disturbance in a Beverly Hills hotel.
The hotel staff asked Ponsetto and her mother, Nicole, to leave. After they refused, the cops were called. Both women were hit with public intoxication charges and Nicole was hit with additional battery charges because she allegedly assaulted an officer.
Just one day after she was charged with public intoxication, she was charged with a DUI in Los Angeles County. In addition to those charges, the NYPD said Ponsetto is also facing assault and attempted robbery charges.
On Dec. 26, Ponsetto attacked Harrold Jr. as he and his father were waiting in a hotel lobby for breakfast. She accused the teen of stealing her iPhone and demanded that he empty his pockets. A hotel worker also asked the teen to show his phone to the lady. Her phone was later returned to her by an Uber driver who found the device in his car.
Nearly 100,000 people have signed a petition to have “SoHo Karen” arrested and charged. Civil Rights Attorney Ben Crump, who represents the Harrolds, called for the NYPD to charge her with battery and assault. He also shared additional footage from the attack, which showed Ponsetto following Harrold Jr. and tackling him in the lobby.
“Keyon Harrold Jr. will live with this trauma for life, the weight of racism on the shoulders of another generation,” Crump wrote. “He deserves better than this treatment!”
So far, Ponsetto has not been arrested.