One of the women seen in a video harassing and attacking an Uber driver has been arrested, San Francisco police announced Thursday. Another suspect said she would surrender.
The Las Vegas Police Department arrested the 24-year-old Malaysian king earlier Thursday in connection with the incident that took place in the Portola area of San Francisco on Sunday, according to a statement. King is facing several charges, including assault with a caustic substance, assault and battery, conspiracy and violation of health and safety code, police said.
Another suspect, 24-year-old Arna Kimiai, remains at large, but her legal advice told San Francisco police she would surrender to the nearest law enforcement agency.
“The conduct captured on video during this incident showed a sensitive disregard for the safety and well-being of an essential service worker amid a deadly pandemic,” said lt. statement. “We take this behavior very seriously in San Francisco, and we are committed to ensuring that justice is done in this case.”
While an arrest was being made, the department said the incident was still being investigated.
Video footage recorded on a security camera and shared by KPIX-TV shows that Kimiai and King allegedly assaulted, harassed and coughed Subhakar Khadka, a 32-year-old Uber driver. A third unknown woman was also in the car as a passenger.
The women allegedly erupted in anger when Khadka refused them a ride because they were not wearing a mask.
Khadka told KPIX-TV that he was attacked because he was an immigrant from South Asia.
‘I never said anything bad to them; I never cursed. I was not raised that way. I do not beat people; “I’m not raised that way, so they do not get out of my car,” Khadka said.
San Francisco police said in a statement that the driver picked up the passengers on March 7 at 12:45 a.m. in San Bruno Avenue and Felton Street in the Portola neighborhood.
One of the passengers was not wearing a mask, and the driver stopped and ended the ride a few minutes later in San Bruno and Silver Avenues, police said.
An altercation took place and one of the passengers reached the driver from the back seat and stole the driver’s cellphone, ‘police said. “The victim grabbed his phone and eventually took possession again.”
When the three women left the car, one of them stuck in an open window and, according to police, sprayed a pepper spray in the car and towards the driver.
Uber issued a statement after SFPD announced King’s arrest and thanked the police station for his swift action.
“Uber does not tolerate racism or hatred against any community,” Uber said. “When one community is attacked, we are all attacked. We are shocked and saddened by the recent increase in anti-Asian hatred, especially if it affects a driver or rider. In this case, we banned all three riders and were in contact Mr Khadka to offer our support. ”
Uber has banned the rider requesting the ride. “If we learn about the identities of the other riders, we can also set up their accounts,” Uber said in a statement.
Uber has a ‘no mask, no ride’ policy and no tolerance for physical violence, according to its community guidelines.
Drivers can cancel travel without cancellation due to ‘no mask’ or if they do not feel safe, according to the driver safety tips.
Lyft announced on Wednesday that the company has also permanently removed the rider from its platform.
“Although this incident did not involve the Lyft platform, the unacceptable treatment of the driver in this video forced us to permanently remove the rider from the Lyft community,” Lyft wrote on Twitter. “Driving in a pandemic is not easy. Please wear a mask, respect each other and be a good person.”
A GoFundMe has been launched for Khadka, who has raised more than $ 63,000 since Thursday night.
The fundraiser was organized by Cyan Banister, an early investor in Uber, who was appalled at the amount of money Uber gave to the driver after the incident.
“Uber then failed to take care of this Uber driver to help him with lost wages and to clean up the use of pepper spray chemicals in the dust of his car,” reads a statement on the fundraising page. “They started with only $ 20 in compensation for the pepper spray covering its inner fabric. They then increased it to $ 120 in compensation, but that does not come close to the expenses needed to have a professional car that has the strong try not to remove chemicals from pepper spray and also the lost wages by not being able to work. ‘