Police say a group of people damaged a self-driving Waymo vehicle in the Beverly Grove neighborhood of Los Angeles.
J. Chavez, public information officer for the Los Angeles Police Department, said officers received a call reporting a team causing a disaster with a robot near La Cienega Boulevard and West 3rd Street. He said officers made a report of vandalism.
The unoccupied vehicle was reportedly stopped at a red light when it was surrounded. No injuries were reported and no arrests were made.
Waymo spokeswoman Julia Ilina said the company was working closely with officials investigating the incident. “While these types of events are rare, we take them very seriously and remain committed to improving road safety and mobility in the cities where we operate,” she said in a statement.
Video posted online showed a man kicking the white Jaguar in the side while another man wearing a ski mask stood on the roof. The front passenger side door was torn off, the windshield and window were shattered, and at least one tire was flattened.
Some reports suggested the incident occurred during a street takeover, but Chavez said police recovered no evidence of the takeover.
Last year, a group in San Francisco’s Chinatown surrounded a Waymo vehicle, vandalized it and then set it on fire.
