A woman who falsely accused a Black teenager of stealing her phone and tackled him at a New York City hotel in an incident captured on video was indicted on hate crimes charges Wednesday.
Miya Ponsetto, 22, pleaded not guilty to four charges brought by a grand jury, including unlawful imprisonment as a hate crime, aggravated harassment and endangering the welfare of a child, during a virtual arraignment.
In December, Ponsetto confronted 14-year-old Keyon Harrold Jr. at the Arlo Hotel in a now-viral video recorded and shared by his father, jazz trumpeter Keyon Harrold.
Video shows Ponsetto yelling at the teenager and lunging at him as he denies stealing her phone. Ponsetto’s phone was found soon after