The father of a 14-year-old boy filed a lawsuit on Wednesday against the woman accused of attacking his teen son at a New York hotel last year.
Grammy-award-winning musician Keyon Harrold, who filmed the December 26 encounter involving his son and Miya Ponsetto, 22, is also suing SoHo’s Arlo Hotel, where the ordeal took place. His lawyers said the hotel “aided and abetted” in racially profiling Harrold’s son by ordering him to turn over the iPhone that Ponsetto falsely accused him of stealing, according to the New York Daily News.
Cellphone and surveillance footage apparently showed Ponsetto tackling the 14-year-old boy and snatching his phone from him in the hotel lobby. She allegedly also tried to stop Harrold and his son from leaving the building.
Ponsetto had accused the teen of stealing her iPhone — which she had actually left in an Uber. The driver returned the phone to her minutes after the alleged assault, according to reports.
According to TMZ, the pending lawsuit stated that the 14-year-old suffered emotional distress and had to attend therapy after last year’s incident.
On January 7, Ponsetto was arrested in California after she was charged in New York with attempted robbery, attempted assault, endangering the welfare of a child, and grand larceny. She is currently free on supervised release.
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[Featured image: Miya Ponsetto/Ventura County Sheriff’s Department]
