Harrold and his son are black and were guests at the Manhattan Hotel. The woman in the video appears to be white.
His video about the meeting was widely shared on social media, provoking a shout out about what many considered to be yet another racial incident against black men. The hotel apologized and called the woman’s behavior “unfounded accusation, prejudice and aggression against an innocent guest.”
A spokesman for Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance said his office was “thoroughly investigating” the incident, and the New York City Police Department told CNN that a complaint of harassment had been filed at the Arlo Soho Hotel.
After watching the surveillance video of the incident, investigators are considering accusing the woman of assault and possibly theft, or attempted robbery, Rodney Harrison, chief of detectives at the New York Police Department, said Tuesday.
The woman disputes the accusations brought against her
The woman did not show up, but CNN was the first news organization to speak to her on Tuesday and disputed Harrold’s account of what happened.
While the 22-year-old woman claimed that she was assaulted during the altercation, CNN failed to corroborate her account with the investigators or with the hotel where the incident took place.
In a 20-minute telephone interview, she said the incident took place after she first asked to see the hotel’s surveillance video to try to identify who had taken her phone. She says she then asked someone else in the hotel lobby to “empty her pocket” before finally confronting Keyon Harrold Jr., whom she claimed had her phone in her pocket.
“Then everything got a little more serious,” the woman said, referring to the interaction.
Throughout the phone call, the woman’s account of the incident sometimes unfolded. She provided additional information about previous events that are not related to the incident, which CNN was unable to confirm.
When asked if she was worried about the allegations and the general way she is presented in the video, she said: “Of course I’m worried. I’m not who I am. In fact … I try very hard to make sure always the right thing. ”
The woman told CNN that she was willing to cooperate with the ongoing investigation, but had not yet received a call from the NYPD or contacted herself. She also said she would be willing to talk to Harrolds.
After agreeing to provide evidence that could confirm her assertion that she had been assaulted, she stopped answering CNN’s phone calls and text messages.
CNN is not calling her at this time because she said she has concerns about her safety unrelated to the incident.
CNN also requested a police report from the NYPD, but declined to provide one, saying it usually does not do so in such situations.
Many who saw Harrold’s video, including New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, called for racism. But there are no plans “at this time” to charge the woman with bias, Harrison said.
“The investigation is still preliminary, a lot of work is needed,” he said. “The applicants are cooperating and I am confident that the first section investigators will make an arrest for this case sooner rather than later.”
Harrold says the meeting happened on the way to breakfast
The teenager tells her “this is my phone”, and his father tells him that he doesn’t have to explain anything to the woman. The woman approaches them, demanding that the case be removed from the phone.
He then hits a male hotel employee on the shoulder and asks him to bring his phone. “Bring him back literally for me, please,” she says.
Old Harrold replies, “Are you kidding me? Do you feel there’s only one iPhone made in the world?” A man who identifies himself as the hotel manager asks to see the phone, but the teenager’s father refuses. “I’m trying to solve this situation,” says the manager.
In the video, when Harrold and his son try to leave the woman, he approaches them, saying, “I won’t let him go with my phone.” The video then shows her on the floor, but it’s not clear how she landed there. He approaches them again and the teenager’s father is heard shouting for her to take his hands down before the movie stops.
“I don’t know what would have happened if my father hadn’t been there, honestly,” the teenager said. Asked what he would say if he had the opportunity to talk to the woman, he said he would expect an apology. Then he said he would ask her, “Why would he do such a thing to a child who never knew you?”
The woman’s phone was returned to the hotel a few moments after the incident by a vehicle she used to try to check into the hotel, Harrison said.
The hotel says “more could have been done” to turn off the dispute
“It would be horrible at any age, but it’s particularly offensive that it happened to a child,” he said. “To Keyon Harrold Jr. and his family: I’m sorry this happened to you.”
In a statement, Arlo Hotels said “more could have been done to unbalance the dispute.”
“We are deeply disappointed by the recent baseless indictment, prejudice and assault on an innocent guest at the Arlo Hotel,” the statement said. “In further investigation of the incident, we learned that the service manager immediately called the police regarding the woman’s conduct and that hotel security intervened to prevent further violence … No Arlo guest – or anyone – should be subjected to this type of behavior “.
“As this year of racial awareness draws to a close, it is deeply worrying that incidents like this, in which a black child is seen as being treated like a murderer, continue to happen,” Crump said in a statement. .
“We strongly urge Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance Jr. to bring charges and battery charges against this woman to send the message that racially motivated, hateful behavior is unacceptable,” Crump added. “This is what will be needed to bring about change. We are also calling for a civil rights investigation into the Arlo Hotel for its implicit prejudices in dealing with Keyon.”
CNN’s Melanie Schuman, Tina Burnside, Sonia Moghe and Kristina Sgueglia contributed to this report.