A Castro Valley resident was charged Thursday for allegedly slashing the tires of 17 Waymo robotaxis in San Francisco between June 24 and June 26, in accordance with the town’s district lawyer.
Prosecutors say the tire slashings have been captured by cameras put in on the outside of Waymo’s robotaxis. That is the newest incident of Waymo vandalism within the Bay Space, the place some residents have expressed frustration with the autonomous automobiles.
San Francisco has a historical past of revolting in opposition to robotaxis extra broadly. In February, a crowd of individuals within the metropolis’s Chinatown neighborhood dedicated one other act of robotaxi vandalism by setting a Waymo automobile on fireplace. Roughly a 12 months in the past, different robotaxi haters positioned site visitors cones on prime of autonomous automobiles, a hack that disabled the automobiles.
This time round, Waymo’s know-how appears to have caught one in all these alleged crimes on video. In an e mail to TechCrunch, Waymo mentioned the San Francisco Police Division reviewed footage from the Waymo automobiles’ exterior cameras in an effort to establish the suspect.
“We will affirm that prices have been introduced in opposition to the person who aggressively vandalized a variety of Waymo automobiles, some with riders current,” mentioned Waymo spokesperson Katherine Barna in an e mail. “Waymo can be taking steps to get well the damages sustained, and mitigate the potential for future occasions.”
Prosecutors allege these tire slashings, which occurred within the metropolis’s Tenderloin neighborhood, are linked to a different case of robotaxi vandalism within the metropolis’s recordsdata. In that case, the suspect Ronaile Joshua Burton is alleged to have approached a three-car caravan of Waymo automobiles and stabbed a knife into their tires throughout the identical time interval.
“I want to thank the San Francisco Police Division for his or her cautious investigation on this case,” mentioned San Francisco District Lawyer Brooke Jenkins in a press launch. “The destruction of different individuals’s property won’t go unaddressed in San Francisco. Individuals who vandalize property should be held accountable for his or her actions.”
Burton has pled not responsible to all 17 prices. The injury to every automobile is estimated at greater than $400. Prosecutors positioned the suspect in custody with no bail whereas awaiting trial, citing the “public security threat” they pose. Her courtroom date is ready for Friday, July 12.
Deputy Public Defender Adam Birka-White, who’s representing Burton, mentioned in a press release that his shopper is in want of assist and never jail. The general public defender’s workplace intends to aggressively battle these prices, he mentioned in a broader assertion that additionally criticized the District Lawyer’s workplace for prioritizing the punishment poor individuals on the behest of companies.
Waymo says it fastidiously opinions any requests from regulation enforcement earlier than handing over its automobiles’ movies. The corporate says it challenges, limits or rejects requests that do not need a legitimate authorized foundation or are overbroad, and has completed so prior to now.
The San Francisco District Lawyer’s workplace declined to remark additional.
Correction: This story initially misstated the residence of the suspect. They stay in Castro Valley. The article has additionally been up to date with a press release from Burton’s lawyer, Deputy Public Defender Adam Birka-White and clarifies that Burton makes use of she/her pronouns.
