A woman who was caught on video harassing and coughing on a California Uber driver was arrested, while another woman plans to surrender to the police, officials said.
Las Vegas police arrested Malaysia King, 24, who faces charges of assault and beatings, conspiracy, as well as violating the health and safety code for attacking the Uber Subhakar Khadka driver on Sunday, according to the San Francisco Police Department.
Khadka recorded the incident showing King – who is sitting in the back seat wearing red – and another woman, identified by police officers as 24-year-old Arna Kimiai, coughing and shouting profanity at him after refusing to wear face masks.
Kimiai has not yet been arrested, but her lawyers say she plans to surrender soon.
“We are happy to know that Kimiai intends to do the right thing and surrender to the nearest police agency, and we hope that will happen immediately,” said Lieutenant Tracy McCray in a statement.
“The behavior captured on video in this incident showed a cruel disregard for the safety and well-being of an essential service worker in the midst of a deadly pandemic. We take this conduct very seriously in San Francisco and are committed to ensuring that justice is done in this case, ”continued McCray.
The incident came after Khadka picked up Kimiai, King and another woman in San Francisco at around 12:45 pm on Sunday.
Khadka asked one of the women to put on a mask, but she refused, so he decided to cancel the trip.
An enraged Kimiai can be seen in the video yelling at the driver: “Fk the masks!”
At one point, Kimiai grabs Khadka’s phone in the center area of the panel and then violently rips off his face mask.
Law enforcement officials say the women also spread what is believed to be pepper spray inside Khadka’s car.
Both Uber and Lyft banned Kimiai as a result of the incident.