The 22-year old was forcibly detained by Ventura County deputies in her home state of California Thursday for a fugitive warrant in connection to the assault of jazz musician Keyon Harrolds 14-year-old son, Keyon Harrold Jr., at SoHos Arlo Hotel, the sheriffs office said. Shortly before her arrest, Ponsetto told CBS This Morning host Gayle King she acted lawfully in the now-viral video recorded by Harrold.
Ponsetto, who has since been called SoHo Karen online, appeared to stumble finding words to answer Kings questioning about her motives when she singled out Harrold and pushed him to the ground.
Yeah, the footage shows me attacking his son, she said. Attacking him how? Yelling at him? Yes. Okay. I apologize. Can we move on?
She said that she considers herself to be super sweet and the one incident does not define her.
When Ponsetto blamed her young age on her decision-making, King suggested she was old enough to know better.
Ponsetto snapped: All right, Gayle. Enough, she said, indignantly waving her hand at the camera.
Sitting beside her, Ponsettos attorney Sharen H. Ghatan whispered for her client to stop, but it was too late.
I was trying to do my best to assist her but she wasnt having any of it, Ghatan told The Washington Post. When she sat in that chair, and she said Im not going to remove the Daddy hat, she was set to do what she wanted to do.
A woman falsely accused Black hotel guests of stealing her phone. A viral video has sparked a police investigation.
In the interview, Ponsetto wore a black baseball cap embroidered with the word Daddy, merchandise from the sex advice podcast Call Her Daddy.
Ghatan and CBS staff asked Ponsetto to remove the hat, but Ponsetto refused, Ghatan said. When the interview ended, Ponsetto stormed off the set.
Ghatan attributed her clients outburst to a mental health crisis.
She wasnt able to restrain herself, Ghatan said, and she was less than respectful with Gayle. This offended me and hurt me because I didnt want that impression.
She said that while she spoke with Ponsettos mother beforehand, her client was incommunicado up until she arrived for the interview and was not prepared.
Ghatan represented Ponsetto before the New York incident and is not licensed in that state.
Ponsetto was charged with public intoxication in June and driving under the influence and with a suspended license in September, according to Los Angeles court records.
Ponsetto has yet to be charged for the assault in New York, according to the prosecutors office.
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She was detained Thursday by deputies with a warrant from the New York Police Department. When deputies tried to pull her over, she would not stop until she arrived home and refused to get out of the car when they told her that they were arresting her, according to Ventura County Sheriffs Office.
A Ventura County judge said in a Friday hearing a New York warrant charges her with attempted robbery, endangering a childs welfare, fourth-degree attempted grand larceny and attempted assault, according to the New York Daily News.
During the filmed encounter, Ponsetto baselessly told hotel staff that Harrold, who was staying at the hotel with his family, had her phone. Ponsetto had left her items unattended and thought her phone was taken. It was later found by her Uber driver.
The incident is the latest case of alleged racial profiling to go viral after a summer of anti-racism protests. In New York City, Amy Cooper, dubbed Central Park Karen, called the police to falsely say an African American man harassed her when birdwatcher Christian Cooper asked her to put her dog on a leash in a now-infamous video.
Ghatan said the Harrold family has not yet responded to Ponsettos attempt to apologize to them.
Parents of the 14-year-old, Harrold and Kat Rodriguez, said through their attorney Ben Crump that their energy was directed toward bringing attention to systemic racism rather than speaking with Ponsetto.
Miya will be dealt with by law enforcement, and hopefully be charged with the assault of our child, the parents said in a statement. We are not interested in what she has to say, in her feigning remorse, and we certainly will not provide her a public platform and audience to do as much.read more
She tackled a teen over a lost phone. Her bizarre ‘apology’ interview was a mistake, lawyer says – Washington Post
