New video shows woman tackle teen she falsely accused of theft

Police released new video late Wednesday showing a woman attacking Grammy-award winner Keyon Harrold’s teenage son. The woman had falsely accused the 14-year-old of stealing her iPhone at a New York City hotel.  

NYPD’s chief of detectives Rodney Harrison released surveillance footage of the incident, showing the unidentified woman chasing after Keyon Harrold Jr. in the lobby of the Arlo Hotel in Manhattan on Saturday. The video shows the woman wrapping her arms around him before bringing him to the floor. Police also released a photo of her without a facemask. 

“The woman in this video falsely accused an innocent 14-year-old teenager of stealing her cellphone,” Harrison wrote. “She then proceeded to physically attack him and fled the location before police officers arrived on scene.”

The new video comes after the boy’s parents and family attorney Ben Crump called for the Manhattan district attorney to press charges against the woman. 

Keyon Harrold, a well-known trumpeter who has performed with the likes of Beyoncé, previously claimed he and his teenage son, who are both Black, were assaulted by the woman. He shared a video on social media capturing part of their encounter, which also showed a hotel manager that attempted to intervene. 

Harrold wrote in the social media post that an Uber driver returned her phone after the “traumatic” incident and said she didn’t apologize to him or his son. 

In an Instagram post, the Arlo Hotel apologized for the “recent incident of baseless accusation, prejudice, assault against an innocent guest of Arlo hotel.”

“No Arlo guest – or any person – should be subject to this kind of behavior,” the chain said. “We want to apologize to Mr. Harrold and his son for this inexcuseable experience, and have reached out to them directly to express our sincere regret and to offer help in dealing with the traumatic event.”   

The hotel chain said the manager called police regarding the woman’s conduct and hotel security intervened to prevent further violence.