Miya Ponsetto, the woman, wanted for falsely blaming a teenager for stealing her smartphone and physically striking him inside a New York City hotel, has been arrested in California after fleeing authorities there.
What We Know:
- Ponsetto bolted the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department after they attempted to make a traffic stop on the warrant for her arrest out of New York, officials stated. The department said they had to follow her while she refused to stop, driving slowly within her neighborhood in Piru, California.
- Once she came to a stop in front of a home, she fought and resisted arrest, where she had to be physically constrained and arrested by deputies, authorities told ABC News.
- A Grammy-winning trumpet player, Keyon Harrold, was with his 14-year-old son at Arlo SoHo Hotel in New York City last month, where they stayed when he mentions Ponsetto addressed his son in the lobby accusing him of stealing her phone. Harrold recorded part of the disturbance on his phone.
- In the video that Harrold filmed, the woman is seen yelling at the teen and jumping at him during the Dec. 26 incident. Harrold’s son, Harrold Jr., can also be heard denying that he stole the phone.
“As this year of racial awareness is drawing to a close, it’s deeply troubling that incidents like this one, in which a Black child is viewed as and treated like a criminal, continue to happen,” Ben Crump, National civil rights attorney expressed in a statement following the incident.
- According to Crump, the woman’s cell phone was reportedly found later on Saturday by an Uber driver.
Ponsetto is remaining held on no bail, as all out of state warrants are in Ventura County. She will have an extradition hearing. She is not yet on the jail roster, but she is being held on the fugitive warrant out of New York.
