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A pair of California teens allegedly used a Waymo robotaxi ride to work on their target practice while drinking alcohol — only for the self-driving vehicle to help bring their joyride to an abrupt end.
The two 15-year-olds were riding through San Mateo on Monday afternoon when the autonomous vehicle company alerted police that its passengers appeared to be drinking and shooting objects from inside the car, NBC first reported.
The robotaxi eventually pulled over, where police determined they had been drinking alcohol while firing Orbeez water beads from the vehicle.
“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 San Mateo Police Department wrote in a social media post.
“The simple handling of them can cause fear in [passersby] 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. Well, the Waymo might have been the smartest idea yet, because driving impaired would’ve made this so much worse.”
In another bizarre Waymo-related crime, San Francisco cops are still hunting a yoga pants thief who allegedly used a driverless Jaguar as a getaway car after swiping merchandise from a Marina District yoga studio in January.
Despite obtaining a search warrant for Waymo footage, investigators have been unable to identify the suspect because interior video had already been deleted and exterior footage blurred faces for privacy.
“It’s highly unusual in the first place that a Waymo is even used by a suspect,” Sgt. Tim Faye said. “It was disappointing that the internal video was not able to lead to the recognition of a suspect.”
Last month another Waymo mishap made headlines when a San Francisco passenger found himself in an unintended police chase after his driverless taxi barreled through a freeway construction zone.
“It went through the cones and then sped up straight away,” rider Elliot Slade said after the robotaxi ignored barriers and drew the attention of patrol officers.
The incident was one of more than a dozen similar construction-zone blunders that prompted Waymo to recall more than 3,800 vehicles and temporarily limit freeway service.
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