A 36-year-old man who’s apparently not fond of self-driving robotaxis allegedly went on a tire-stabbing spree against them, and stands accused of slashing Waymo tires 17 times in a three-day span, though the cars’ cameras caught him on video.
The self-driving robotaxi company Waymo just opened up the sale of its rides to anyone who wants to hail one in SF, though not everyone is thrilled with the rise of the machines. You’ll recall the orange cone brigades who figured out how to disable the cars with a hilariously simple trick, or the lighting of a Waymo on fire in Chinatown during Lunar New Year celebrations.
We may need to add to that resistance movement 36-year-old Ronaile Joshua Burton, whom KPIX reports stands accused of 17 counts of vandalism, each for slashing the tires of a Waymo vehicle. Burton allegedly slashed all these tires between the dates of June 24 and 26.
"The destruction of other people's property will not go unaddressed in San Francisco. People who vandalize property must be held accountable for their actions," SF DA Brooke Jenkins said in a statement.
Her office’s statement added that “Each incident was captured on cameras in the Waymo vehicles.”
While the release describes the suspect Burton as being from Castro Valley, NBC News reports that “in videos posted to X, someone who appeared to be Burton said he was homeless and living in San Francisco.”
That NBC News report got an additional statement out of Waymo. “We can confirm that charges have been brought against the individual who aggressively vandalized a number of Waymo vehicles, some with riders present,” the company said. “Waymo is also taking steps to recover the damages sustained, and mitigate the potential for future events.”
Burton remains in custody and was denied bail, “because of the safety risk he poses” per Jenkins’s office. His next court appearance is scheduled for Friday, and his preliminary hearing is scheduled for July 23.
Related: Are the Waymo and Tesla Arsonists the Same Person? [SFist]
Image: Joe Kukura, SFist
