Man tries to steal driverless car in L.A., doesn’t get far: police

LOS ANGELES – A man faces a charge of Attempted Grand Theft Auto after police say he tried to steal a driverless car in Los Angeles, only to find he couldn’t work the controls.

The attempted theft occurred around 10:30 p.m. Saturday. Authorities say 33-year-old Vincent Maurice Jones hopped into a Waymo Jaguar sedan that had just dropped off another passenger on Main Street, just north of 1st Street, in downtown Los Angeles.

Officers say Jones got into the driver’s seat and tried to manipulate the system to put the vehicle into “Drive” but couldn’t manipulate the controls.

“A Waymo employee spoke with Jones through the car’s communication system and instructed him to leave the vehicle. Jones did not follow the instructions,” the L.A. Police Department said in a statement.

The representative then contacted the LAPD. Officers arrived a short time and placed Jones under arrest.

California authorizes expansion of Waymo’s driverless car services to LA, SF peninsula

Waymo recently received approval from the California Public Utilities Commission to operate its fleet of autonomous passenger taxis in Los Angeles County.

The approval has come with some pushback from local government officials, including L.A. County Supervisor Janice Hahn.

“This is a dangerous decision,” Hahn wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter. “These robotaxis are far too untested and Angelenos shouldn’t be Big Tech’s guinea pigs. Decisions like this one should be informed by cities, not made over city objections.”

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