San Francisco: rider says a Waymo robotaxi stayed stopped and support declined to move it while two men attacked the car with the rider inside (9 May 2026)
At about 3:30 a.m. on 9 May 2026 a Waymo robotaxi with a rider in the front passenger seat was at a stoplight at Pierce and Lombard streets in San Francisco when a man grabbed its front bumper and the vehicle stopped. The rider told the San Francisco Chronicle and NBC Bay Area that two men then struck the windshield and windows and climbed onto the car while it stayed stationary. The rider says Waymo support staff on the car intercom declined to move it, saying it was obstructed, although the rider saw nothing blocking it, and remembers about 10 minutes before the men left. The Chronicle reports that the car's remote assistant had noticed the car was not moving and decided to call police. The Chronicle reports that officers arrived at 3:46 a.m. The police report, as described by both outlets, identifies Waymo as the victim of malicious mischief and the rider as a witness. Police officials say the rider told officers of no injury. The rider later felt pain behind an ear that the rider believes came from glass, and sought therapy. Waymo spokespeople did not comment on the account in the reporting, and Waymo told the rider in an email that it was unable to access any footage without proper legal justification. The account is the rider's as reported by the Chronicle (16 July 2026) and NBC Bay Area (16 July 2026). The police report was not inspected and is known only through the outlets' descriptions.
AI involvement reported · Causal attribution alleged · 3 sources, 2 underlying accounts · Added 29/09/2026