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One woman was arrested and another agreed to surrender after assaulting a San Francisco Uber driver who asked one of them to put on a mask during their ride, police said.
Malaysia King, 24, was arrested in Las Vegas and charged with assault with a caustic chemical, assault and battery, conspiracy and violation of the health and safety code, a department statement said. San Francisco Police Department.
Another suspect, Arna Kimiai, 24, was not arrested on Friday morning, a police spokesperson said. Her lawyer told police on Thursday that she intended to surrender, the statement said.
The San Francisco Police Department previously said a 32-year-old Uber driver picked up three passengers on Sunday in the city’s Portola neighborhood, but ended their ride when one of them had refused to wear a face mask, violating Uber’s policy and the state of California’s mask mandate.
The driver, Subhakar Khadka, 32, told NBC News he told one of the passengers he would have to stop the ride if she didn’t have a mask to put on. He said he offered to take them to a gas station so the passenger could purchase a mask.
But during the time it took to get to the gas station, the passenger threatened him, saying she could call her family members “to take care of me,” Khadka said. Feeling intimidated, he said he asked the passengers to get out of the car. But he said they refused, which prompted Khadka to activate his car’s dashcam.
After the passengers refused to leave, he decided to take them back to their pickup location, Khadka said. As they were on their way, Khadka said they were arguing over the mask, the passengers were not wearing seat belts, and one of them opened a car door. So he said he had stopped the car again.
“Luckily my camera worked… it recorded audio, it recorded video of the whole scene,” Khadka said.
Khadka said one of the passengers took out pepper spray and sprayed it inside his car after dropping them off.
Another passenger grabbed Khadka’s cell phone, but was able to retrieve it, police said.
Several videos that circulated also showed passengers ripping off the driver’s mask and coughing on him.
Khadka said the situation made him vulnerable.
“There was nothing I could do about it. I couldn’t lay my hand on them,” he said. “I couldn’t verbally challenge them.”
Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi thanked the police for their “quick job and for standing up for the drivers.”
“Anti-Asian hatred and violence is shocking and heartbreaking – and it must stop. When a community is attacked, we are all attacked, ”Khosrowshahi wrote on Twitter. Police do not say the assault was a hate crime.
A statement from Uber added that the three passengers have been banned from the transportation platform and Uber has offered support to Khadka. “When a community is attacked, we are all attacked,” the statement read.
Lt. Tracy McCray, who heads the San Francisco Police Department’s flight unit, echoed the sentiment.
“The behavior captured on video in this incident showed an unfeeling disregard for the safety and well-being of an essential service worker amid a deadly pandemic,” McCray said. “We take this conduct very seriously in San Francisco and are committed to ensuring that justice is done in this matter.”
“We are happy to hear that Ms. Kimiai intends to do the right thing and go to the nearest law enforcement agency, and we hope that will happen soon,” he said. added McCray.
The third passenger in the car was not considered a suspect. Police said the incident was still under investigation.
Efforts to reach King and Kimiai failed on Friday morning.
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