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Video: Woman At SoHo Hotel Falsely Accuses Black Teen Of Stealing Her Phone
By
Jake Offenhartz
Published Dec 28, 2020
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By
Jake Offenhartz
Published Dec 28, 2020
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Jazz musician Keyon Harrold is alleging that he and his 14-year-old son were racially profiled and assaulted this weekend at the Arlo, a boutique hotel in SoHo, by a woman who falsely claimed the teenage boy stole her iPhone.
Video of the incident, which Harrold posted to Instagram on Saturday, shows the unidentified woman lunging at the trumpet player's son, yelling "show me my phone!"
“Are you kidding me? You feel like there’s only one iPhone made in the world?” replies Harrold, who notes that he and his son had just emerged in the lobby from an elevator.
The situation escalated, with the woman eventually tackling the boy and attempting to search his pockets, Harrold said. "She scratched me; she tackled and grabbed him. He is a child!" he wrote in the post.
Harrold also noted that the woman was "empowered" by the hotel manager, who can be seen in the video asking the teenager to produce his phone "to settle this situation." He said he was later informed by the hotel that the woman's missing phone was returned by an Uber driver.
The confrontation has drawn comparison to other recent incidents involving false allegations lodged against people of color — including the now-infamous video of a white woman calling the cops on a Black bird watcher in Central Park.
A spokesperson for the NYPD confirmed that they had received a complaint about an act of harassment at the hotel and were investigating
On Sunday, the Arlo issued an apology to Harrold and his son for the "inexcusable experience," adding that "more could have been done to deescalate the dispute."
"We're deeply disheartened about the recent incident of baseless accusation, prejudice, and assault against an innocent guest of Arlo Hotel," the statement continued.
Harrold, a Long Island City resident by way of Ferguson, Missouri, is a fixture of NYC jazz clubs, and has collaborated with Jay-Z, Rihanna, Mary J. Blige and others. Several of his songs explore issues of racism and xenophobia. "This shit happens so often," he wrote on Saturday. "It needs to stop!”
Katty Rodriguez, the teenager's mother, posted on Instagram that she was seeking an apology from the woman, and further steps from the hotel to ensure that a similar situation did not happen again.
"The most painful feeling today as a parent was to feel helpless in protecting my child against racial hatred," she wrote.
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Jake Offenhartz
Jake Offenhartz is a former Gothamist reporter.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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