Woman seen coughing on, attacking Uber driver turns herself in
Arna Kimiai, 24, has now made bail after she was arrested for the alleged attack seen in a viral video
The woman seen coughing on her Uber driver has been identified, arrested and is now out on bail.
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Arna Kimiai, 24, turned herself into the San Francisco Police Department after a video began to circulate of the woman allegedly assaulting an Uber driver. She was charged with robbery, assault and battery, conspiracy, and violation of health and safety code, according to San Francisco’s KPIX 5.
“She started taunting me, cursing me, questioning me about being a man,” said Subhakar Khadka, 32, the Uber diver. “The ladies were even talking about shooting me, calling their cousins to shoot me. They were making fun of my race.”
Kimiai was seen in the video coughing in the direction of the driver and at one point, grabbing his cell phone. The suspect was accompanied by two other women, one of them Malaysia King, also 24, who was also arrested in Las Vegas last week when she allegedly attempted to use a fake ID to make a bank transfer.
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As previously reported by theGrio, Khadka, a Nepalese man, posted a video of the encounter on social media. He believes he was attacked and mocked because he is a South Asian immigrant.
“If I was another complexion, I would have not gotten that treatment from them,” Khadka told a local CBS affiliate. “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,” he said.
After making headlines this week for her behavior, Kimiai posted a video update threatening to sue Uber for banning her. She ended her rant by declaring “That’s why I take Lyft.” Lyft responded to the video by banning her too.
“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 said in a statement. “Driving in a pandemic is not easy. Please wear a mask, respect one another, and be a good person.”
Investigators in San Francisco worked with Las Vegas police to apprehend 24-year old King. She was arrested Thursday in Sin City and charged with assault with a caustic chemical, assault and battery, conspiracy and violation of health and safety code, San Francisco Police said in a Facebook post.
The attorney for Kimiai, 24, told police that she plans to turn herself in.
A third woman seen in the car during the melee is not wanted by authorities.
A GoFundMe was started by Cyan Banister, who was one of the first investors in Uber, and it has raised more than $97,000, surpassing the $20,000 goal to help Khadka with living expenses because he is not able to work due to the trauma.
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