A self-driving Waymo car called the cops on two misbehaving teen passengers in California and then delivered them to waiting police.
On Monday afternoon, the 15-year-old passengers were traveling around San Mateo in an autonomous vehicle. While riding in the autonomous car, the teenagers used a toy gun to shoot Orbeez water beads at other vehicles while consuming alcohol inside the Waymo taxi.
According to police, a Waymo employee who was remotely monitoring the vehicle using its internal cameras told the teens that the vehicle had to stop due to mechanical issues. Unbeknownst to the teens, the Waymo employee had also reported to the San Mateo Police Department that someone was discharging a gun from the automobile.
“They saw what they described as a firearm in the vehicle, described it black in color, and at some point believed that the passengers were firing,” said San Mateo Police Department spokesperson Jeanine Luna.
The San Mateo Police Department issued a statement
“After calling us and stopping the car, we were able to safely remove both subjects and determined they were shooting Orbeez from the car as they sipped on afternoon libations while being chauffeured around town in the driverless vehicle,” the San Mateo Police Department wrote on social media.
“While there was some ingenuity to this scheme, toy guns, water guns, and BB guns all pose real dangers, especially to an untrained eye. The simple handling of them can cause fear in passerby’s or to those who don’t get a good look. Shooting projectiles at speed can cause real damage. And lest not forget the underage drinking. All bad ideas today for these two.”
Photos shared by the San Mateo Police Department show five officers, including one with a dog, surrounding the vehicle in a shopping center parking lot after it pulled off the road.
“We conducted a high risk traffic stop. Waymo did disable the vehicle for us in a location that we were able to set up safely. And at that point, we pulled them out of the vehicle, searched the vehicle, and then we found what we determined to be Orbeez,” Luna added.
Police detained the two 15-year-old passengers before releasing them to their parents. The district attorney’s office will now review the case to determine whether to file any charges.