Uber rider in assault case turns herself in
The maskless Uber passenger seen on video coughing on and allegedly assaulting a driver in San Francisco last week turned herself in Sunday and posted bail, her lawyer said.
Arna Kimiai turned herself in at the women’s jail in San Francisco around 7 p.m., and was posting a $75,000 bond, lawyer Seth Morris confirmed. She faces charges for firstdegree robbery, battery on a transit employee or passenger, violation of health and safety codes, and conspiracy to commit a crime, according to booking information.
“We coordinated her surrender with Sgt. Tony Santos of SFPD so it could be handled peacefully and expeditiously,” Morris said in a statement. “Ms. Kimiai acted appropriately and responsibly when she found out she had a warrant for her arrest, coordinating her peaceful surrender through her legal counsel and the San Francisco Police Department.”
A GoFundMe drive set up to assist the Uber driver, Subhakar Khadka, had raised more than $95,000 by Sunday evening, which the driver said he would spend on pursuing legal action and to support his family.
In the incident, Khadka picked up three passengers at the corner of San Bruno Avenue and Felton Street in San Francisco’s Portola neighborhood on March 7. Khadka ended the ride minutes later because one of the women was not wearing a mask, authorities said. In a series of videos Kimiai posted on Instagram, Khadka ends the ride and tells the women they are free to leave his car, because he is going home. When they refuse, he later says: “If you’re not getting out here, I’m going to stop in the middle of the freeway.”
The nowviral dashboard camera video shows Kimiai
coughing on the driver, verbally assaulting him, attempting to grab his phone and snatching his mask off his face. When the three women finally left the car, one of them peppersprayed inside the window.
Malaysia King was arrested later in the week in Las Vegas in the incident and faces charges of assault with a caustic chemical, assault and battery, conspiracy, and violations of a health code, police said.
Khadka told news channels he believes he was attacked because he is a South Asian immigrant.
After seeing the viral video, Cyan Banister, an early investor in Uber, started the online fundraiser for Khadka. In a video posted to the fundraising page Sunday, Khadka said he would use the donations “really wisely” to pursue legal action, pay for his son’s education and make his parents’ retirement “beautiful.”
Khadka immigrated from Nepal to California seven years ago and still supports his family in his home country, according to news reports.
“I would like to sincerely thank everybody for all the love and support showered upon me,” Khadka said in the video. “It was a really unfortunate event last week and it has not been easy since, and I hope nobody has to go through that. The love and support and encouragement from this community and people around the world has helped me to move forward and believe in humanity and justice.”