Arna Kimiai who coughed on Uber driver will surrender to cops as pal Malaysia King who pepper-sprayed car is arrested
THE WOMAN caught on tape coughing on an Uber driver will surrender to police as her pal who pepper-sprayed the car has been arrested.
The viral video exposed Arna Kimiai, 24, berating driver Subhakar Khadka while her pal Malaysia King, 24, allegedly sprayed a chemical during a trip through San Francisco’s Bayview District last Saturday.
Kimali was in San Francisco with King and another masked pal.
When Khadka asked her to put on a mask and she refused, he asked them to leave the car after driving them to a gas station where they could purchase masks.
Instead, she began hurling insults at Khadka before assaulting him, pulling down his mask and coughing in his face, then attempting to steal his phone before King allegedly pepper sprayed inside his car.
On Thursday the Las Vegas Police Department said King was taken into custody on charges of assault with a caustic chemical, assault and battery, conspiracy and violation of health and safety code.
Now, according to local media reports, Kimiai’s lawyer has said she will turn herself in to the San Francisco Police Department to face similar charges.
Days after the incident, instead of apologizing, , saying her boyfriend taught her not to let an Uber driver drop her off in the middle of the road.
“All I did take his mask off and cough a little bit but I don’t even have corona.”
She did somewhat walk back that action, however, but did not fully apologize.
“I ain’t gonna lie, that was disrespectful as f**k. I was dead a** wrong for that.”
She then ended by saying she was never a fan of the Uber platform – which has since banned her – and instead takes their rival.
“F**king stupid a** Uber bruh, that’s why I take Lyft,” she said.
Lyft also has preemptively banned her from their service as well.
“Although this incident did not involve the Lyft platform, the unacceptable treatment of the driver in this video compelled us to permanently remove the rider from the Lyft community,” the company in a statement.
“Driving in a pandemic is not easy. Please wear a mask, respect one another, and be a good person.”
“I never said anything bad to them, I never cursed, I was not raised that way. I don’t hit people, I am not raised that way, so they were not getting out of my car,” Khadka CBS San Francisco. He thinks he was harassed given he is a South Asian immigrant.
“You guys are animals to treat other human beings like this,” he added, saying they used racial slurs in the car.
Police said one of the women then sprayed a substance likely to be pepper spray into his face and car before exiting, but he managed to retrieve his cell before they left.
“She pepper-sprayed inside my car, from the passenger window that was open little bit, that was the only window open in my car,” Khadka said, adding he left his car because it was difficult to breathe.
After immigrating to the United States from Nepal over eight years ago, Khadka said he has been supporting his family through Uber and was targeted because of his race.
“If I was another complexion, I would have not gotten that treatment from them,” he said. “The moment I opened my mouth to speak, they realized I’m among one of them, so it’s easy for them to intimidate me.”
“Since you were born and raised here in the United States, don’t think the other person is less human,” he warned the women.
Khadka was given $120 from Uber in cleaning funds, but has said that’s still not enough. A has so far raised $10,000 to help him.
Uber confirmed the woman has been banned from its app. “The behavior seen in the video is appalling. The rider no longer has access to Uber.”