Second Uber assault suspect surrenders to police

San Francisco police announced Sunday night that Arna Kimiai, 24, turned herself in for her alleged involvement in the assault on a 32-year-old Uber driver one week prior.

Kimiai was booked into County Jail Sunday night on an arrest warrant for charges of robbery, assault and battery, conspiracy and violation of the health and safety code.

Authorities said Thursday that Kimiai’s legal counsel expressed her intention to surrender to police. Kimiai is the second suspect taken into custody in connection with the March 7 incident. Another suspect, 24-year-old Malaysia King, was apprehended by police Thursday in Las Vegas.

The incident began at 12:45 p.m. when Uber driver Subhakar Khadka, 32, picked up three female passengers at the intersection of San Bruno Avenue and Felton Street. Khadka saw that one of the passengers was not wearing a mask as required by state and local public health orders due Covid-19.

In accordance with Uber policy, he stopped the ride and told the passengers he could not continue unless all passengers were wearing masks, police said.

An altercation followed, which was partially captured by a dashboard camera and shared widely, showing the women yelling profanities at Khadka and one coughing close to his face. One woman is also seen grabbing the driver’s cell phone and taking his mask off, later throwing it back toward the front of the vehicle.

Authorities said Khadka was able to regain possession of his cell phone. As the passengers exited the vehicle, one reached into an open window and sprayed what police believed to be pepper spray. The suspects then fled the scene.

A GoFundMe was started for Khadka, which has now raised nearly $97,000. Cyan Banister, the fundraising organizer, said the money will help Khadka pay for living expenses “while he is unable to work due to this trauma.”

Jerold Chinn

Jerold serves as a reporter and San Francisco Bureau Chief for SFBay covering transportation and occasionally City Hall and the Mayor's Office in San Francisco. His work on transportation has been recognized by the San Francisco Press Club. Born and raised in San Francisco, he graduated from San Francisco State University with a degree in journalism. Jerold previously wrote for the San Francisco Public Press, a nonprofit, noncommercial news organization. When not reporting, you can find Jerold taking Muni to check out new places to eat in the city.