Harold and his son are black and were guests at a hotel in lower Manhattan. The woman in the video is looking white.
The video of his encounter has been widely shared on social media, leading many to believe it was another incident of racial configuration against black men. The hotel apologized and called the woman’s behavior a “baseless accusation, prejudice and an attack on an innocent guest.”
Manhattan District Attorney CA Vance said his office is “fully investigating” the incident, and the New York Police Department told CNN that a harassment complaint has been filed at the Arlo Soho Hotel.
After watching surveillance video of the incident, investigators are accusing the woman of assault and possibly attempting grand grand Larseni or robbery, Rodney Harrison, head of detectives at the New York Police Department, said Tuesday.
The woman disputes the allegations against him
The woman did not come forward, but CNN was the first news organization to speak to her by phone on Tuesday, and she disputed Harold’s account of what happened.
While the 22-year-old woman claimed she was attacked during the affair between them, CNN could not confirm the account with investigators or with the hotel where the incident took place.
In a 20-minute phone interview, she said she came across the incident after she first tried to watch a video of the hotel’s surveillance and pointed out who had taken her phone. She says she then told someone else in the hotel lobby to “empty her pocket” before finally confronting Keon Harold Jr., who retained her phone in her pocket.
“That’s when everything got a little more serious,” the woman said, referring to the interaction.
During the phone call, there were several incidents in the woman’s account. She provided additional information on previous and unrelated events that CNN is unable to confirm.
When asked if she was possibly facing charges and overall concerned about how she was portrayed in the video, she said, “Of course I’m worried. It’s not who I am. I’m really … Try hard to make sure I’m always there. That’s right. ”
The woman told CNN she was willing to cooperate in the ongoing investigation, but she has not yet received a call from the NYPD that she could not reach herself. He also said he would be willing to talk to Harolds.
After she agreed to provide evidence or help confirm a claim that she had been attacked, she stopped answering CNN’s phone calls and text messages.
CNN is not currently writing his name because he said he is concerned about his safety related to the incident.
CNN also requested a police report from the NYPD, but refused to provide it, saying it was not normally the case.
Many who watched Harold’s video, including New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, have accused him of racism. But there are no plans at this time to charge the woman with the crime of bias, Harris said.
“The investigation is still preliminary, there is still a lot of work to be done,” he said. “The complainants are cooperating and I am confident that the investigators from the first frontier will arrest the case as soon as possible.”
Harold says the confrontation happened while going to breakfast
The teenager calls him “this is my phone” and his father tells him he doesn’t need to explain anything to the woman. The woman approached him, demanding that the case be removed from the phone.
He then taps a male hotel employee on the shoulder and asks him to bring the phone to him. “Please literally get it back for me,” he says.
Old Harold replies, “Are you kidding me? Do you think there’s only one iPhone in the world?” A man who identifies himself as the hotel manager asks to see the phone but the teen’s father refuses. “I’m trying to resolve this situation,” says the manager.
In the video, when Harold and his son try to leave the woman, they approach her, saying, “I won’t let her walk away from my phone.” The video then shows him on the floor, but it’s unclear how he landed there. She reaches out to him again and the teenager’s father is heard screaming for her to lower her hand before cutting the video.
“I don’t know what would have happened if my dad hadn’t been there, honestly.” Said the teenager. Asked what he would say if he got a chance to talk to the woman, he said he would expect an apology. Then he said he would ask her, “Why would he do something to a child that you have never met?”
Harrison said the woman’s phone returned to him in moments after he tried to check the hotel by a ride-sharing vehicle.
Hotel says ‘more could be done’ to reduce controversy
“It would be horrible at any age, but it’s especially insulting that it happened to a child.” “Keon Harold Jr. and his family: I’m sorry you did that.”
In a statement, Errol Hotels said “something more could have been done to further this controversy.”
“We are disappointed with the recent incident of baseless allegations, prejudice and assault against an innocent guest at the Arlo Hotel,” the statement said. “Upon further investigation of the incident, we learned that the manager on duty immediately called the police about the woman’s behavior and the security of the hotel was intervened to prevent further violence …. no Arlo guest – or anyone – should be subjected. For this kind of behavior. “
With population awareness approaching this year, Kramp said in a statement, it is getting very troubled that such incidents, in which a black child is found guilty and treated like this, continue to happen.
“We strongly urge Manhattan District Attorney Science Vance Jr. to send a message that this hateful, racially motivated behavior is unacceptable to attack and charge the woman.” “This will drive that change. We also call for a civil rights inquiry into the Arlo Hotel for its implicit bias in Kelow’s treatment.”
CNN’s Melanie Schumann, Tina Burnside, Sonia Moggie and Christina Siglia contributed to the report.
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