An acclaimed jazz musician said his 14-year-old son was approached 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 calls from the family attorney to sue the woman.
Keyon Harrold, a well-known trumpeter who has played with names like Beyoncé, said he and his teenage son, both black, were beaten by the woman who claimed the child was carrying her smartphone. He shared a video on social media showing part of his meeting with her in the lobby of the Arlo hotel in Manhattan on Saturday.
The woman told the teenager to hand over the phone, but Harrold’s son replied, “This is my phone.” Behind a hotel manager, the woman continued to demand the device.
“Are you kidding me? Do you feel like there’s only one iPhone made in the world?” Harrold is heard asking her.
The manager approached the boy and asked to see the phone, mentioning that he was a hotel manager.
“I don’t care, this is my son,” Harrold told him, adding that they were both guests at the hotel who had just taken the elevator down.
After the manager said he was just trying to help, Harrold replied, “But you are not helping, what is being disrespectful … My son has nothing to do with her.”
“No, he’s not leaving,” said the woman. “Show me the proof.”
The father and son leave, but she follows them and seems to launch herself towards the older Harold.
“No, please get my phone back,” she said. “I can’t be without my phone!”
“Get your hands off,” said Harrold, when the video ended.
Harrold wrote in a social media post that an Uber driver returned his phone after the “traumatic” incident and said he did not apologize to him or his son. He also accused the woman of scratching him and claimed that she “grabbed and grabbed” her son.
In an Instagram post, Arlo Hotels apologized for the “recent incident of unfounded accusation, prejudice, aggression against an innocent Arlo hotel guest.”
“No Arlo guest – or anyone – should be subject to this type of behavior,” said the network. “We want to apologize to Mr. Harrold and his son for this unforgivable experience and we look to them directly to express our sincere regret and offer help in dealing with the traumatic event.”
The hotel chain said the manager called the police about the woman’s conduct and the hotel’s security intervened to prevent further violence. The NYPD told CBS News on Monday that it received a complaint involving the incident, but did not make further comments when asked about an investigation.
Katty Rodriguez, the teenager’s mother, later thanked followers on social media for their support and asked that the woman in the incident be identified. She also explained why the family pursued the charges.
“The only reason we decided to go public and post on social media was because the hotel, which had a security guard on duty, let this young woman leave while waiting for the police to respond after she assaulted my son several times, which was not seen in this video because my son’s father dropped the phone to protect our son! “she wrote.
In a statement on behalf of the family, civil rights lawyer Ben Crump urged the Manhattan district attorney to bring charges of assault and battery against the woman who accused and allegedly attacked the teenager. He also called for a civil rights investigation at the Arlo hotel for “his implicit bias in treating Keyon.”
This incident echoes a similar encounter earlier this year, when Christian Cooper, a black man filmed Amy Cooper, a white woman, calling his police in Central Park and falsely saying he was threatening her. She was accused of falsely reporting an incident in the third degree, a misdemeanor.