Miya Ponsetto was arrested Thursday evening after an interview with Gayle King, where she attempted to defend herself for falsely accusing a 14-year-old Black boy of stealing her phone before assaulting him.
NYPD was on the search for Ponsetto after video footage surfaced showing the 22-year-old attacking Keyon Harrold Jr. Ponsetto accused the teen of stealing her cell phone at the Arlo SoHo hotel and tried to take his phone during the attack, believing it was hers. Once news spread of the incident, Ponsetto was nicknamed, "SoHo Karen."
Shortly after the December 26 incident, she left for California to lay low with her mom. In a joint effort by the Ventura County Sheriff and NYPD, Ponsetto was finally apprehended. Police say she refused to stop when cops tried pulling her over three blocks from home and had to be physically pulled out of the car after she attempted to slam the door on a deputy's leg.
On Friday morning, CBS This Morning aired the first part of Ponsetto's interview with Gayle King. Sitting next to her attorney Sharen Ghatan, Ponsetto attempted to defend herself by saying she never meant to hurt the 14-year-old teen.
"I admit yes, I could have approached the situation differently or maybe not yelled at him like that or made him feel some sort of inferior way, making him feel as if I was like, hurting his feelings, because that's not my intention," Ponsetto claimed. "I consider myself to be super sweet. I really never, never meant for it to hurt him or his father either."
Ponsetto became dismissive and combative when King challenged her claims. She admitted she didn't approach everyone else in the hotel lobby and accused Keyon's father of slamming and dragging her across the floor without acknowledging that the father was defending his son. She also questioned the seriousness of her crime.
"Basically, I am a 22-year-old girl," Ponsetto said. "I don't … racism is … how is one girl accusing a guy about a phone a crime? Where is the context in that? What is the deeper story here?"
When King responded by highlighting Ponsetto's age and saying she's old enough to know right from wrong, Ponsetto cut her off by saying, "Alright, Gayle. Enough," and raised her hand. After her lawyer whispered in her ear, Ponsetto said the hotel had her phone and returned it shortly before the clip concluded.
Keyon Harrold Jr.'s father has said the family is seeking trauma therapy for their son as a result of the incident.
Ponsetto was previously arrested twice for DUI in 2020, in addition to a February arrest with her mom for allegedly being drunk in public at the Peninsula Hotel in Beverly Hills.
She's is being held without bail as she'll be extradited to New York. Ponsetto expected to be charged with attempted robbery and possibly resisting arrest.
Source: New York Post
