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Waymo launched its first self-driving taxi service in Chandler, AZ earlier this month, but according to numerous police reports, residents aren’t celebrating what some consider an incredible technological achievement: instead, they’re threatening and harassing the company’s vans by throwing rocks at them, slashing their tires, and forcing them off the road by stopping in front of them or merging into their lanes, which confuses their navigational systems. One man was even caught on video waving a gun at a driver.
Many of the people harassing the van drivers appear to hold a grudge against the company, a division of Mountain View, California-based Alphabet Inc., which has tested self-driving technology in the Chandler area since 2016. “(The suspect) stated that he was the person holding up the gun as the Waymo vehicle passed by and that his intentions were to scare the driver,” said a report from Detective Cameron Jacobs, after police arrested 69-year-old Roy Leonard Haselton on Aug. 8.
Many of the people harassing the van drivers appear to hold a grudge against the company, a division of Mountain View, California-based Alphabet Inc., which has tested self-driving technology in the Chandler area since 2016. “(The suspect) stated that he was the person holding up the gun as the Waymo vehicle passed by and that his intentions were to scare the driver,” said a report from Detective Cameron Jacobs, after police arrested 69-year-old Roy Leonard Haselton on Aug. 8.