Miya Ponsetto, the 22-year-old Californian who attacked a black teenager and accused him of stealing her iPhone in December, was tried Saturday in New York before a criminal court.
Ponsetto is charged with attempted robbery, theft, acting in a manner detrimental to a child and two counts of attempted assault, according to a statement from the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, Cyrus R. Vance, Jr., obtained by The Hill.
Judge Michael Frishman granted Ponsetto supervised release without monetary bail. In addition, Grammy-winning jazz musician Keyon Harrold and his son Keyon Harrold Jr., the 14-year-old victim who attacked Ponsetto, received protection orders.
Ponsetto was arrested Thursday in California for her attack on the teen at the Arlo SoHo boutique hotel in New York City on December 26th. Video footage of the incident released by police show that Ponsetto accused Harrold of stealing his missing cell phone and then throwing himself at him. and bringing him to the ground after I informed him he was wrong.
According to The New York Times, Ponsetto’s phone later appeared at the hotel after an Uber driver returned it.
Ponsetto was transferred to NYPD custody shortly after his arrest, during which he resisted, CBS reported.
Although he has no criminal convictions, Ponsetto has three cases open in California, the Manhattan district attorney’s office said. The next will appear in court on March 29, 2021.
After images of the encounter went viral, many accused Ponsetto, christened “SoHo Karen,” of Harrold’s racial profiles.
On Thursday, Ponsetto’s lawyer spoke publicly about the incident, saying the teen’s career was not a motivating factor for his actions.
“This phone could have been in the hand of a 90-year-old grandmother, an Asian person … someone black or blue,” lawyer Sharen Ghatan told NBC News. Her actions were the result of letting “her emotions get the most out of her” since she is “young,” Ghatan added.
Ghatan did not immediately respond to The Hill’s request for comment.
However, during a video interview with CBS Gayle King
Gayle KingCBS news chairman Zirinsky wins fourth state award from National Press Club The Hill’s Morning Report – Presented by the UAE – the U.S. records 1 million COVID-19 cases in a week; governors reprimand Obama that his “initial instinct” during Joe Wilson’s 09 outburst was to “hit this guy in the head” MORE, Ponsetto apologized for hurting the boy’s feelings, but defended his actions.
“Racism is …” Ponsetto began before leaving, adding, “How is it that a girl accusing a boy of a phone is a crime?”
The 22-year-old caught on camera allegedly physically assaulting a 14-year-old black teenager and falsely accusing him of stealing her phone was arrested in California.
In an exclusive interview, Miya Ponsetto and her lawyer spoke with him @GayleKing hours before she was arrested. pic.twitter.com/ezaGkcWZ8j
– CBS This Morning (@CBSThisMorning) January 8, 2021
Ben Crump, a civil rights activist and lawyer representing 14-year-old Keyon Harrold Jr., had previously called for a “civil rights investigation” into the incident. Police told CBS News that they are not studying the case as a partial incident.