New video shows woman attacking innocent Black teen she thought stole her phone at NYC hotel

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Thursday, December 31, 2020
New video shows woman attacking Black teen she thought stole phone
Police say images show the woman inside the Arlo Hotel in SoHo attacking 14-year-old Keyon Harrold Jr. before running off.

NEW YORK -- New York Police Department released new surveillance video showing the woman who accused a jazz musician's son of stealing an iPhone.

The video shows the woman inside the Arlo Hotel in New York City attacking the 14-year-old before running off.

Keyon Harrold said the woman profiled his son by assuming he had her phone, then the hotel botched the situation by giving her the benefit of the doubt.

The encounter 14-year-old Keyon Harrold Jr. and his father had with the woman at the Arlo Hotel in SoHo went viral, with the family's attorney calling for the woman to be arrested.

It's that surveillance video Harrold's parents say shows the hotel management mishandled the incident.

"She was allowed to leave the premises with no repercussions for assaulting our son," mom Kat Rodriguez said. "If the shoe was on the other foot and this was a Black woman or man who assaulted a white child, which I would never condone, do you think she or he would have been allowed to leave the establishment?"

RELATED | Black teen accused of stealing phone in viral incident at NYC hotel says he's shell shocked

Watch: The Harrold family talks to 'GMA':

Keyon Harrold and his son -- along with mother Kat Harrold and attorney Ben Crump -- speak out after they say a woman attacked the Black 14-year-old, accusing him of stealing her phone.

The hotel has apologized but acknowledges they could have done more.

The woman has still not been charged with a crime, but NYPD sources say they know who she is, and in fact, CNN says they got her on the phone -- and she claimed she was assaulted and injured.

Police are trying to track her down, saying she has been identified and lives out of state, and she could face charges ranging from assault to attempted robbery.

The Rev. Al Sharpton joined prominent attorney Ben Crump and the family at the rally, explaining the implications of what happened, the fact that it could have been so much worse, and the need for accountability.

"When I saw this story, I thought about how I was one of those kids whose father never took him anywhere for Christmas, never had brunch with my father," Sharpton said. "And for this Black man to take his Black son, put him in a hotel during a pandemic, and spend Christmas with him, raising him, and to be assaulted because of the color of their skin, I wanted to stand with this man and this woman who provided for their son, and they're being criminalized for it. The arrogance and audacity of this woman."