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‘I consider myself super sweet’ | Woman who attacked black teen over phone apologizes but defends her actions

In an exclusive interview with CBS This Morning anchor Gayle King, Miya Ponsetto said she doesn’t believe tackling 14-year-old Keyon Harrold Jr was a crime.

NEW YORK — Not long before Miya Ponsetto was arrested in Ventura, California Thursday, she did a cringe-worthy interview with CBS This Morning anchor Gayle King.

Ponsetto -- wearing a “Daddy” hat, crop top and leather jacket – tried to justify why she falsely accused a 14-year-old of stealing her phone.

EDITOR'S NOTE: The video above originally aired on Dec. 29

In the exclusive interview, Ponsetto told King she doesn’t believe tackling 14-year-old Keyon Harrold Jr in a New York hotel lobby last month was a crime.

The 22-year-old dubbed "Soho Karen" said she assumed Harrold had her phone, but it had nothing to do with his race.

RELATED: Woman who falsely accused Black teen of stealing phone in NYC hotel is arrested   

“I admit, yes, I could have approached the situation differently or maybe not yelled at him that way and made him feel, you know, some sort of, you know, uh, inferior in some way,” Ponsetto said on CBS This Morning. “Making him feel like I was hurting his feelings by yelling at him, because that’s not my intention. I consider myself to be super sweet.”

Video, shot by Harrold’s father, shows Ponsetto making a scene by screaming at the teen, then tackling him when they tried to leave the Manhattan hotel.

 “When you look at the video, the reaction seems very extreme. It doesn’t seem like it’s someone who is 'super sweet,'” King pointed out. “I just don’t think I would randomly attack people in the way that you did. You’re standing there in your leggings and your flip flops and it looks like you’re just going nuts, for lack of a better word.”

RELATED: Viral video shows woman falsely accusing Black teen of theft in NY hotel

“I don’t think that’s who I am as a person. I don’t think that one incident defines me,” Ponsetti responded. “But I do sincerely, from the bottom of my heart, apologize that if I made the son feel as if I assaulted him or if I hurt his feelings or the father’s feelings.”

Ponsetti apparently didn’t know she was about to be arrested for her role in the incident. It’s not clear what the charge is, but she doesn’t think she committed a crime.

RELATED: Confrontation of Black teen at NYC hotel under investigation

“How is one girl accusing a guy about a phone a crime?” Ponsetti asked King.

She said she was a 22-year-old alone in New York and she needed her phone to contact her family.

“You’re 22 but you’re old enough to know better,” King said.

“All right, Gayle, enough,” Ponsetti said, holding up her hand and halting the interview.

Harrold never had Ponsetti’s phone.  His father said she’d left it in an Uber, and the driver returned it to the hotel after the fracas.

“This is not about an apology from someone who, until a few days ago, was claiming she did nothing wrong and, in fact, alleged that Keyon Harold, Sr. had assaulted her. Someone who targeted a 14-year-old black child because of the color of his skin,” the family said in a statement in response to the interview.

Sharon Ghatan, Ponsetti’s attorney, denies the attack was racially motivated and said she believes Ponsetti is “emotionally unwell.”

During the interview, King said Ghatan tried to intervene at times to help her client but Ponsetti wouldn’t have it.

Before the interview started, Ghatan suggested Ponsetti not wear the “Daddy” ballcap, but she refused to take it off.

Ventura County Sheriff's deputies arrested Ponsetto near her home in Piru, northwest of Los Angeles, said department Capt. Eric Buschow.

She drove two blocks before stopping her vehicle, then refused to get out of the car, Buschow said.

“She tried to slam the door on one of the deputies and that’s when they just reached in and forcibly removed her,” he said, adding that the sheriff's office would ask county prosecutors to charge her with resisting arrest.

You can see more on the interview on “CBS This Morning” on Monday.

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