Soho Karen Miya Ponsetto 'arrested by California cops after brief car chase' 

The woman who was dubbed ‘SoHo Karen’ when she attacked a black teen after falsely accusing him of stealing her iPhone at a New York City hotel has been arrested in California. 

Miya Ponsetto, 22, was taken into custody on a warrant from New York on Thursday after a brief car chase with police in Ventura County, California, the New York Daily News reported. 

‘They had to pull her out of the car. They did use physical force,’ said Eric Buschow, a spokesman for the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department, told the outlet. 

‘She tried to slam the door on the leg of one of our deputies and so she was forcibly removed from the vehicle.’

‘SoHo Karen’ Miya Ponsetto (pictured) was arrested in Ventura County, California, on Thursday

Ponsetto was dubbed ‘SoHo Karen’ (left) after she was seen in a now-viral video falsely accusing African American jazz artist Keyon Harrold’s son Keyon Jr. (right) of stealing her iPhone at the Arlo Hotel 

Police launched an investigation into Ponsetto after she was filmed violently confronting Keyon Harrold Jr, the son of Grammy-winning jazz musician Keyon Harrold, at the Arlo Hotel in Manhattan on December 26. 

In a video recorded by Harrold Sr, Ponsetto was seen pushing and grabbing at the father and son, allegedly even scratching Keyon Sr’s hands as she attempted to snatch his cellphone, wrongly believing it to be hers. 

Moments after the scuffle concluded, her phone was reportedly found in an Uber and returned to her by the driver.  

Detectives with the NYPD flew to California to interview her this week.  

It is unclear what charges she is facing in Thursday’s arrest. 

On Wednesday a lawyer for Ponsetto, Sharen H Ghatan, claimed that she was having an anxiety attack during the incident and insisted that it was not racially motivated.  

‘Miya is young, She let her emotions get the best of her. That phone could have been in hand of 90-year-old grandma, an Asian person.. someone Black or blue. It wasn’t a race related issue. Things took a life of their own,’ Ghatan told NBC.  

The lawyer explained Ponsetto, who is from California, had been traveling alone while visiting her father in New York City for Christmas. 

She had been relying on her phone to help her navigate the city and became nervous and ‘triggered’ after realizing she had lost it.   

This is a developing story. 

The NYPD released surveillance footage of Ponsetto tackling 14-year-old Keyon Jr to the ground in the lobby of the Arlo Hotel after she accused him of stealing her iPhone