Woman Pleads Guilty to Tackling Black Teen at SoHo Hotel

A California lady who tackled a Black teenager at a SoHo resort after falsely accusing him of stealing her cellphone pleaded responsible on Monday to a felony hate crime cost stemming from the altercation. Elements of it had been captured in a extensively seen video.

Underneath the phrases of her plea, the lady, Miya Ponsetto, 23, prevented jail time and might enter a brand new plea to a lesser, misdemeanor cost with out a hate crime ingredient if she completes her probation in a case of driving whereas intoxicated in California. She should additionally proceed counseling and don’t have any encounters with the prison justice system for the subsequent two years, officers stated.

The resort episode was a high-profile instance of the sort of false accusation Black individuals routinely confront in New York and elsewhere. It got here a number of months after a white lady known as 911 to falsely declare {that a} Black bird-watcher in Central Park was threatening her life. (Final yr, a lawyer for Ms. Ponsetto stated that she is of Puerto Rican and Vietnamese descent.)

In an announcement saying Ms. Ponsetto’s plea, Alvin Bragg, the Manhattan district lawyer, highlighted what he stated was her “outrageous habits” in tackling Keyon Harrold Jr., the 14-year-old son of a outstanding jazz musician, within the foyer of the Arlo Lodge in December 2020.

“As a Black man, I’ve personally skilled racial profiling numerous instances in my life, and I sympathize with the younger man victimized on this incident,” Mr. Bragg stated within the assertion. “This plea ensures acceptable accountability for Ms. Ponsetto by addressing underlying causes for her habits and guaranteeing this conduct doesn’t reoccur.”

Ms. Ponsetto’s lawyer, Paul D’Emilia, stated in an announcement that he and his shopper “had been happy that in the present day’s continuing introduced this unlucky misunderstanding nearer to a closing decision.”

“We’re appreciative of the district lawyer’s considerate and empathetic method to discovering an appropriate conclusion,” Mr. D’Emilia added within the assertion, “particularly in gentle of the unreasonable stress delivered to bear by many voices not accustomed to the extra granular particulars of what occurred that night.”

The “many voices” remark was an obvious reference to the offended public outcry the episode touched off when the video capturing elements of it started to ricochet throughout social media shortly after the altercation occurred on Dec. 26, 2020.

The video was filmed by the jazz trumpeter Keyon Harrold, who was staying on the Arlo together with his son. The 2 had simply come right down to the resort’s foyer for brunch when Ms. Ponsetto, whom they didn’t know, accosted them.

The video reveals tensions escalating rapidly, with Ms. Ponsetto insisting that {the teenager} has the telephone and yelling at father and son, as Mr. Harrold insists that she is within the flawed.

“No,” she may be heard yelling. “I’m not letting him stroll away with my telephone!”

The video additionally reveals a person who identifies himself as a resort supervisor saying he’s “making an attempt to assist” whereas showing to confront {the teenager} concerning the telephone.

Separate footage captured by a resort safety digicam reveals Ms. Ponsetto tackling {the teenager}. The telephone was later discovered and returned by an Uber driver.

Ms. Ponsetto, who fled from the resort, was arrested in California about 10 days later, however not earlier than taking part in a nationally televised interview that rapidly turned from a chance to apologize into an train in making excuses.

In an interview with The New York Instances shortly after the resort episode, Mr. Harrold stated the occasions had left him “shellshocked.”

“I’m wondering what would occur if it had been completely different, if it had been a Black lady and there was a white 14-year-old,” he added within the interview. He additionally condemned the way in which the resort supervisor had confronted his son: “They assumed he was responsible.”

The resort subsequently issued an announcement through which it apologized to Mr. Harrold and his son, saying it was “deeply disheartened concerning the current incident of baseless accusation, prejudice and assault towards an harmless visitor.”

The unique fees within the case didn’t embody hate crimes, however the district lawyer’s workplace added two counts of second-degree illegal imprisonment as a hate crime final yr. Ms. Ponsetto pleaded not responsible on the time.

On Monday, she pleaded responsible to at least one depend of second-degree illegal imprisonment as a hate crime. If she adheres to the plea’s phrases, she might be allowed to plead responsible to second-degree aggravated harassment in two years.

In his assertion, Mr. D’Emilia stated that it was “Ms. Ponsetto’s want that Keyon Harrold accepts her regrets and apology for her habits that night, and that every one concerned can transfer ahead with added perception and compassion.”

Reached on Monday, Mr. Harrold stated that such an apology was insufficient for his son having been “wrongfully and aggressively attacked within the foyer of the Arlo Lodge” in an “unprovoked assault,” and that it “minimizes the trauma that Keyon, Jr. continues to really feel.”

“Nonetheless,” he added, “we not solely blame Ms. Ponsetto for the assault however the Arlo Lodge for permitting it to escalate and to go on unabated.”

Mr. Harrold has sued Ms. Ponsetto; the resort; the corporate that owns it, Quadrum International; and the supervisor over the episode, which Mr. Harrold describes in court docket papers as “yet one more occasion of African Individuals being harmed by baseless accusations whereas going about their each day life.”

Quadrum’s media division didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.

Jonah E. Bromwich contributed reporting.