A woman who was caught on camera ripping off her Uber driver's mask and coughing on him is now facing time in prison after handing herself in to the police.
In the footage, Arna Kimiai, 24, could be seen assaulting, verbally abusing, and trying to steal the cellphone of her driver, 32-year-old Subhakar Khandka, all because he asked her and her two friends two to wear masks while riding in his car.
After the clip was posted to Twitter last week, it sparked outrage as well as an outpouring of love and support for Khandka.
This is the encounter that sparked outrage online in the last week:Kimiai was said to have turned herself in "peacefully" to the cops in San Francisco over the weekend, her lawyer said, per New York Daily News.
Attorney Seth Morris told local news station KPIX5 that Kimiai had voluntarily turned up at the prison facility on Sunday (March 14).
"Ms. Kimiai acted appropriately and responsibly when she found out she had a warrant for her arrest, coordinating her peaceful surrender through her legal counsel and the SFPD," Morris said in a statement.
She is facing charges of robbery, assault, and battery, with her bond set at $75,000. Vice has now broken down the charges, and reported that Kimiai could now be facing years in prison.
The publication details the charge of battery of a transit employee comes with a potential one year in prison and up to $10,000, while the first-degree robbery charge could see her in prison for anything between three and nine years.
Additionally, a sentence for Kimiai's conspiracy to commit a crime charge also holds a potential of one year in prison. And on top of all of that, Kimiai could also be facing fines for violating California's mask mandate and health codes.
One of the other two passengers with Kimiai, Malaysia King, also 24, has also been arrested for her part in the aggressive encounter.
In the distressing video, which has currently been viewed over 3.4 million times, Kimiai shouts "f**k the mask," and then quickly lunges forward to grab Khandka’s phone while yelling: "What you gonna do?"
The 24-year-old consistently abuses the driver in an expletive-laden rant, as he tells her: "You don’t touch my property. You didn’t buy it, I bought it, I worked hard for it."
Furthermore, while it was not caught on video, it has also been alleged that King sprayed what is thought to have been a pepper spray in the vehicle.
King was arrested on March 11 and faces assault charges of caustic chemical, assault, and battery. The third suspect has not been named thus far.
Following the incident, Khadka explained that Kimiai "started taunting me, cursing me, questioning me about being a man."
He added: "The ladies were even talking about shooting me, calling their cousins to shoot me. They were making fun of my race."
While Uber gave their employee only $120 in compensation for the ordeal, online philanthropists have collectively raised an astonishing $100,489 for Khadka on GoFundMe while he recovers from what must have been a very traumatic encounter.
