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Over a dozen of Waymo's self-driving cars were vandalized in San Francisco.
A string of tire slashings and charges brought against the woman who police believe is responsible highlight that tensions remain within some in the city and the futuristic driving technology.
San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins announced Thursday that 36-year-old Ronaile Joshua Burton has been charged with 17 counts of vandalism on Waymo self-driving vehicles. Waymo, which was formerly Google's self-driving car project, is now a subsidiary of the tech giant's parent company, Alphabet.
The incidents, which each allotted damages exceeding $400, took place in the city's Tenderloin between June 24 and 26, according to the DA's office. Each instance was caught on cameras installed in the vehicles, the authorities said.
Prosecutors also alleged that Burton slashed the tires of a three-car Waymo caravan. Court records indicate Burton has been assigned a public defender. Burton's attorney, Deputy Public Defender Adam Birka-White, said in a statement that she chosen to plead not guilty.
"Ms. Burton is someone in need of help and not jail, which is why our social workers are actively working to identify and secure appropriate services," Birka-White said. "The District Attorney continues to prioritize punishing poor people at the behest of corporations."
Waymo said in a statement that it is "taking steps to recover the damages sustained, and mitigate the potential for future events."
"Waymo exists to make roads safer, and with that in mind we will always prioritize the safety of our riders and community," it added.
The arrest follows other reported incidents of vandalism against Waymo's self-driving cars in the last year. In February, a Waymo robotaxi was set on fire while driving through the city's Chinatown during Lunar New Year celebrations.
Waymo Vehicle surrounded and then graffiti’d, windows were broken, and firework lit on fire inside the vehicle which ultimately caught the entire vehicle on fire. #SFFD
— SAN FRANCISCO FIRE DEPARTMENT MEDIA (@SFFDPIO) February 11, 2024
Photos by Séraphine Hossenlopp pic.twitter.com/aOTqL3Rk8V
Although Mayor London Breed at the time had described the vandalism as "an isolated incident," Reuters reported that a passenger in a Waymo the day after the incident had fireworks shot at him.
San Francisco is one of the main test beds for self-driving tech, and incidents involving the vehicles — as well as traditional human-driven cars — are bound to come up. In addition to Waymo, Tesla tested its Full Self-Driving feature in the city earlier this year, and Amazon-owned Zoox took to the winding streets for the first time back in 2018.
Cruise, which is owned by General Motors, began operating driverless vehicles in the city in 2022 before suspending testing operations the following year following a collision with a pedestrian who was dragged beneath the vehicle. The company has begun operating again with human drivers behind the wheel, though it said its goal is to eventually resume driverless rides.
Some riders have marveled at Waymo's robotaxis — Business Insider's Lloyd Lee recently took a ride in one and wrote that the self-driving vehicle felt like a better driver than some human drivers in San Francisco.
However, the vandalism incidents and high level of scrutiny around the cars' safety over the last year demonstrate the challenges the companies behind the futuristic vehicles face — even in a techie city like San Francisco.
