VIDEO: Uber Riders Cough On & Pepper Spray Driver In San Francisco
By Rebekah Gonzalez
March 9, 2021
An Uber driver in San Francisco was attacked by three passengers on Sunday, March 7.
The driver, Subhakar Khadka, caught the attack on video. One of the women can be seen grabbing his cellphone, tearing off his mask, while the other two yell profanities at him.
A spokesperson for the San Francisco police told HuffPost that one of the women also pepper-sprayed him as they exited his vehicle.
Khadka told reporters at KPIX5 he believes the passengers attacked him for being a South Asian immigrant and screamed racist slurs at him when he tried to get them to leave the car.
UBER RIDERS COUGH ON, ASSAULT, PEPPER SPRAY DRIVER
— Betty Yu (@BettyKPIX) March 9, 2021
Driver Subhakar Khadka, who is South Asian, says he believes he was targeted because of his race. He picked up 3 women in the Bayview yesterday afternoon on San Bruno Avenue. https://t.co/Tzr7kTfyKQ pic.twitter.com/f8PiHDZ9CZ
According to Khadka, the trouble began when he pulled over because one of the passengers refused to put on a mask.
He then drove to a gas station so she could buy a face covering.
In his video, one woman leans toward him and starts coughing on him. While the other two passengers yell at him, the woman tries to grab his cellphone out of his hands and tears off his face mask.
Once they finally left the car, one of the women "reached into an open window and sprayed what is believed to be pepper spray into the vehicle and towards the driver," Adam Lobsinger with San Francisco police said in an email to HuffPost.
Police are asking for the public's help in identifying the passengers in the video.
Photo: Getty Images