Overview
- Waymo employees reported seeing a firearm inside one of its driverless cars on Sept. 3, pulled the vehicle over in the Richmond District and alerted the San Francisco Police Department.
- Officers performed a high-risk vehicle stop shortly before 4 a.m., searched the car and detained two juveniles who were riding as passengers.
- Police recovered a loaded AR-style rifle described as a 'ghost gun' that lacks a serial number along with suspected marijuana and mace; both minors were booked into the Juvenile Justice Center on suspicion of illegal firearm possession.
- SFPD has classified the case as an open and active investigation and is asking anyone with information to contact the department.
- The episode follows earlier Bay Area incidents in which Waymo employees alerted police about passenger misconduct, raising questions about how robotaxi operators detect violations, how they notify riders when police are called, and the enforcement challenges posed by unserialized 'ghost' firearms.