Maskless passengers assault Uber driver who refused them a ride

A group of women can be seen in a recently released video assaulting a San Francisco Uber driver who refused them a ride because they were not wearing masks.

The incident occurred on Sunday after 32-year-old Subhakar Khadka, who is of South Asian decent, requested that one maskless woman put on a face covering and drove to a gas station so that she could purchase one. When she refused, he asked that all of the women exit his vehicle.

The video shows one of the women then ripping her mask off yelling, “F— the masks!” at Khadka and coughing at him. She also reached into the front seat and removed his mask from his face at one point and snatched his phone away from him.

UBER RIDERS COUGH ON, ASSAULT, PEPPER SPRAY DRIVER
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

— Betty Yu (@BettyKPIX) March 9, 2021

After Khadka ended their ride and the women exited the car, one reached back into an open window and pepper sprayed into the car and toward him, police told SFGate.

“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 told a local CBS news station.

Uber reportedly suspended the women from accessing the service in the future, calling the incident appalling.

“The rider no longer has access to Uber,” the rideshare service said in a statement to KPIX 5.

Uber’s community guidelines have a “no mask, no ride” policy during the coronavirus pandemic, and the company says it does not tolerate threatening or rude behavior.