'SoHo Karen' Returns To SoCal After Being Charged In NYC Hotel Brawl
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) – A 22-year-old woman who was caught on video accusing a Black teen of stealing her cell phone and then tackling him to the ground in a New York City hotel is back home in Southern California after appearing in New York to face criminal charges in the incident.
Miya Ponsetto was extradited to New York City over the weekend to appear on charges of attempted assault, attempted robbery, grand larceny and acting in a manner injurious to a child.
A Manhattan criminal court judge Saturday gave her supervised release. On Sunday, TMZ cameras captured footage of Ponsetto after she arrived back at Los Angeles International Airport.
According to CBS New York, on Dec. 26, Ponsetto is accused of attacking 14-year-old Keyon Harrold Jr. and his father inside the lobby of the Arlo Hotel in New York City. The entire incident was captured on cell phone and surveillance video.
An Uber driver later found the woman's phone in his car returned it to the hotel, according to CBS New York.
Ponsetto was taken into custody on a fugitive warrant outside her home in the Ventura County town of Piru Thursday afternoon.
The Ventura County Sheriff's Office reported that deputies attempted to pull Ponsetto over as she was driving, but she refused to stop. When she reached her home on Marina Circle, she refused to get out of her car and had to be forcibly removed.
Investigators with the New York Police Department flew to Ventura County to assist with the arrest, the sheriff's office reported. Ponsetto then went before a Manhattan judge via video conference Friday, and agreed to be extradited to New York.
In an interview with CBS This Morning's Gayle King which was conducted just a few hours before Ponsetto's arrest Thursday, Ponsetto claims that she wasn't targeting Harrold.
"I was approaching the people that had been exiting the hotel, because in my mind, anybody exiting is probably the one, might be the one, that is trying to steal my phone," Ponsetto said. "I admit yes, I could have approached the situation differently, or maybe not yelled at him like that and 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. I consider myself to be super sweet, I really never ever meant for it to like hurt him or his father either."
