A man was arrested after he allegedly tried to steal a self-driving taxi in downtown Los Angeles on Saturday night.
The Los Angeles Police Department said in a statement that Vincent Maurice Jones, 33, got into the driver's seat of the Waymo self-driving Jaguar sedan after it dropped off a passenger on Main Street.
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Jones tried to put the car in “drive” but was unsuccessful.
A Waymo employee used the car’s communication system to order Jones to exit the vehicle. After Jones refused to comply, the employee called the LAPD.
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The suspect was arrested on suspicion of attempted grand theft auto.
It is not known whether he has an attorney to speak on his behalf.
“An unauthorized pedestrian entered one of our vehicles Saturday night in Los Angeles as a rider was exiting," Waymo said in a statement. "After communicating with the individual and instructing them to exit the vehicles, our Rider Support team contacted the police, who were then able to remove and arrest them. There were no injuries reported by the rider or damage to our vehicle.”
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Self-driving taxis are an increasingly common sight in California, with state regulators on Friday authorizing Waymo to expand services of its fleet of robotaxis into the greater Los Angeles area and south of San Francisco.
Waymo is owned by Google parent Alphabet Inc. and has also been operating the service in Phoenix since 2020.
In San Francisco, Waymo’s cars are not universally popular and have been known to come to sudden stops that have backed up traffic in the city, according to The Associated Press.
