Smith Collection/gado/Getty Images It was only a matter of time until someone turned a Waymo robotaxi into a self-driving getaway car. A man arrived at a location via Waymo, robbed a yoga studio, then made his escape in the same car, according to a report from the San Francisco Chronicle. One of the strangest parts of the whole ordeal is the fact that police have no leads on the perpetrator's identity, despite the robotaxi's numerous cameras. The heist took place on a January evening, and the thief got away with an armful of men's shorts in a matter of minutes. Naturally, you'd probably assume Waymo has some footage of this event or records of the rider who hailed the driverless cab. Waymo's Jaguar I-Pace robotaxis are indeed equipped with 29 cameras, providing a complete view in and around the vehicle. Since police already treat self-driving cars as surveillance cameras on wheels, it should have been easy to obtain video from the car involved to identify the perpetrator. However, police did not file a search warrant for this information until April, four months after the robbery took place. Waymo provided the user's account information, but it did not lead police to the suspect. It may have been a fake or stolen account. In the elapsed time since the robbery and before the issuance of the warrant, Waymo had already erased the interior footage. Exterior video was available, but only with faces blurred out — a step Waymo takes for privacy reasons — further preventing police from identifying the suspect. Privacy versus security Michael Vi/Getty Images There's a lot of data being collected by modern vehicles, and the police likely could've used any data the Waymo collected if they had acted a bit sooner. In fact, police could've likely pulled over the Waymo with relative ease if they'd caught the thief in the act. In January 2025, another thief used a Waymo as a getaway car after robbing a grocery store, reports KTLA 5. In that case, police tracked down the car immediately. While Waymos may not stop for school buses, they do stop for police. Unlike most Los Angeles pursuits, all they had to do was turn on their emergency lights, and the Waymo obediently pulled over with the suspect still inside. It's unclear from the Chronicle's description, but it seems that the yoga studio was closed at the time of the robbery, so employees and patrons may not have been in danger. The stolen clothing wasn't extremely valuable either, so this case may not have been a high priority for police, which would explain why the warrant wasn't issued for four months. Without sufficient evidence, it's possible the suspect may have gotten a Waymo with it.
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