A Waymo vehicle drives past a No U-Turn sign in San Bruno, Calif., Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2025. (AP Photo\/Jeff Chiu, File)<\/small><\/p>\n
2026-07-09T00:40:05Z<\/p>\n
LOS ANGELES (AP) \u2014 Police detained two 15-year-olds who they say were drinking and shooting water beads while riding in a self-driving Waymo after the company alerted law enforcement in Northern California and remotely forced the vehicle into a parking lot, officials said.<\/p>\n
San Mateo police officers stopped and searched the vehicle Monday afternoon after a Waymo representative contacted them, department spokesperson Jeanine Luna said.<\/p>\n
Photos from a bystander shared with a local TV station showed the teens hanging out of the Waymo\u2019s windows. Police say they determined they were drinking in the car and shooting Orbeez, which are soft, water-absorbent polymer beads, out into the streets.<\/p>\n
Waymo pulled the vehicle over into a parking lot and let officers know they were doing so.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe occupants were not locked in and had every ability to exit the vehicle,\u201d Luna said in an email.<\/p>\n
Officers were able to communicate with a Waymo representative through the vehicle\u2019s communication system during the stop, Luna said.<\/p>\n
The San Mateo Police Department posted about the incident on social media and warned people about underage drinking and the danger of water bead guns.<\/p>\n
The post garnered more than 150 comments, with some expressing concern about surveillance and whether it was acceptable for Waymo to deliver the teens to the police.<\/p>\n
Waymo did not respond to emailed questions about how the company was alerted to the teens\u2019 behavior and if the teens were informed the car was being pulled over.<\/p>\n
According to a support page online, cameras inside Waymos are used to make sure cars are clean, find lost items, and provide help in case of emergency. Facial recognition is not used to identify individuals, it said.<\/p>\n