The video was released late Wednesday by Detective Chief of New York Police, Rodney Harrison, who wrote: “The woman in this video mistakenly accused an innocent 14-year-old teenager of stealing her cell phone. Then she proceeded to physically attack him and ran away from the site. Before, police officers arrived at the scene. „
Police previously told CNN that they knew the woman’s identity and wanted to talk to her about the accident. The New York Police Department has not commented on whether it is required for questioning or whether the charges are imminent.
Harrison tweeted the clip in several angles for the hotel camera, showing a woman in a light-colored hood dashing towards someone who appeared to be Harrison’s son in a red cap. The woman holds it from the waist and the two fall to the ground.
CNN has requested the unedited video from NYPD and Arlo Hotel, and both have refused to provide a copy.
Harold and his son are black and were guests at the hotel in Lower Manhattan. The origin of the woman in the video is unclear, although the New York Police Department described her as white.
Harold’s video of the meeting was widely shared on social media, sparking a protest over what many felt was another incident of racial profiling against black men. The hotel apologized, describing the woman’s behavior as „a baseless accusation, prejudice and assault on an innocent inmate.“
Harold said in an Instagram post that he and his son left their hotel room for breakfast when they met the woman.
The teenager’s parents, Keon Harold Jr., and their lawyer, Ben Crump, said Wednesday they were meeting with the attorney general’s office in Manhattan. They tell CNN’s Don Lemon that DA told them the video is worse than what the father posted on Instagram on Sunday.
The parents and their lawyer confirmed that the incident was racially motivated, but New York Police said Tuesday it had not been investigated as a crime of bias.
After watching the surveillance video, investigators are considering charging the woman with assault and possibly grand theft or attempted robbery, Harrison said Tuesday.
According to Harrison, the woman’s phone was returned to her at the hotel moments after the accident by a passenger vehicle she was using before trying to check-in to the hotel.
The woman did not apply, but CNN Tuesday was the first news organization to speak to her on the phone. I questioned Harold’s version of what had happened.
While the 22-year-old claimed that she was assaulted during the fight, CNN was unable to confirm her account with investigators or the hotel where the accident occurred.
In a 20-minute phone interview in which she acted sporadically and wandered around at times, she said the accident was uncovered after she first demanded to watch a hotel surveillance video in an effort to determine who might have taken her phone.
She says she then asked another person in the lobby to „empty his pocket,“ before finally confronting Keon Harold Jr., who said she was putting her phone in his pocket.
„That’s when everything got a little more serious,“ said the woman, referring to the interaction.
The woman said she was ready to cooperate and speak with the NYPD and Harold’s family. CNN has made repeated and unsuccessful attempts to contact the woman since Tuesday.
Faith Karimi, Karma Hassan, and Nakiye McNabb of CNN contributed to this report.
