An acclaimed jazz musician said his 14-year-old son was sued and falsely accused of stealing a woman’s iPhone at a boutique hotel in New York City over the weekend. The incident prompted an apology from the hotel and phone calls from the family’s attorney to press charges against the woman.
Keyon Harrold, a well-known trumpet player who has performed with Beyoncé, among others, claimed that he and his teenage son, who are both black, had been attacked by the woman who claimed the child had taken her smartphone. He shared a video on social media on Saturday showing part of their meeting with her in the lobby of the Arlo hotel in Manhattan.
The woman told the teenager to hand over the phone, but Harrold’s son replied, “This is my phone.” The woman was behind a male hotel manager and kept demanding the device.
‘Are you kidding me? Do you feel that only one iPhone was made in the world? ‘ Harrold hears her asking.
The manager approached the boy and asked if he could see the phone, saying he was the manager of the hotel.
“I don’t care, this is my son,” Harrold told him, adding that they were hotel guests who had just come down the elevator.
After the manager said he was just trying to help, Harrold replied, “But you’re not helping, what you are is disrespectful … My son has nothing to do with her.”
“No, he’s not going,” said the woman. “Show me the evidence.”
The father and son run away, but she follows them and seems to fall to the elder Harold.
“No, please, get my phone back,” she said. “I can’t have my phone!”
“Keep your hands off,” Harrold said at the end of the video.
Harrold wrote in the social media post that an Uber driver returned her phone after the “traumatic” incident and said she had not apologized to him or his son. He also accused the woman of scratching him, claiming that she had “tackled and grabbed” his son.
In an Instagram post, the Arlo Hotels apologized for the “recent incident of unfounded allegations, prejudice and assault against an innocent guest at the Arlo hotel.”
“No guest from Arlo – or anyone else – should be subjected to this kind of behavior,” the chain said. “We would like to apologize to Mr. Harrold and his son for this unforgivable experience and have contacted them directly to express our sincere regret and to provide assistance in coping with the traumatic event.”
The hotel chain said the manager called the police about the woman’s behavior and that hotel security intervened to prevent further violence. The NYPD told CBS News Monday that they have received a complaint about the incident, but gave no further comment when it called for an investigation.
Katty Rodriguez, the teen’s mother, later thanked social media followers for their support, calling for identification of the woman in the incident. She also explained why the family went ahead with the charges.
“ The only reason we decided to go public and post on social media was because the hotel with a security guard allowed this young lady to leave while waiting for the police to respond after assaulting my son several times, which is here not showing is video because my son’s father dropped the phone to protect our son! she wrote.
In a statement on behalf of the family, lawyer Ben Crump insisted the Manhattan district attorney to file assault and battery charges against the woman who accused and allegedly assaulted the teen. He also called for a civil rights investigation into the Arlo hotel because of “his implicit bias in the treatment of Keyon.”
This incident echoes a similar meeting earlier this year when Christian Cooper, a black man, filmed Amy Cooper, a white woman, who called the police on him in Central Park and falsely told them he was threatening her. She was accused of falsely reporting an incident in the third degree, a felony.