A video of a masked, black-clad person smashing a Cruise robotaxi with a hammer was shared on social media on Monday.
The video, first shared by San Francisco journalist Stuart Schuffman, aka Broke-Ass Stuart, was filmed and posted to Instagram by Catery Villela.
Villela told The Standard they shot the video from their dining-room window on Sunday night.
The video shows the autonomous vehicle stopped inside an empty crosswalk with the person using a hammer to smash the robotaxi’s sensors, cameras, mirrors and windows.
A police spokesperson confirmed the incident happened just before 11 p.m. Sunday, with officers responding to Buchanan Street between Haight and Rose streets for a report of a vandalized car.
Someone seen destroying a RoboTaxi in San Francisco this weekend.
— (((BrokeAssStuart))) (@BrokeAssStuart) September 11, 2023
What do you think, hero or villain?
🎥: @caterywta on IG pic.twitter.com/KTdwGKrgWF
Officers found the damaged vehicle and spoke with a witness, who said they heard a scream and looked out of a window to see a person standing in front of the vehicle vandalizing it. The person fled before officers arrived, police said.
In a statement Monday, a Cruise spokesperson confirmed the incident happened near Buchanan and Haight streets and said a tool had been used to damage the vehicle and that a police report had been filed.
“We are deeply troubled by the behavior displayed by the individual,” the spokesperson said. “While there was no one in the vehicle at the time, our priority is to operate safely under all conditions. We have reported the incident to law enforcement and hope they are able to identify those responsible and hold them accountable.”
A social media account associated with the Safe Street Rebel collective—the activists behind the so-called “coning” of robotaxis—re-posted the video link.
A request for comment to an email address for the collective did not immediately receive a reply Monday afternoon.
PSA: Please wait until the AV is out of the crosswalk and avoid shenanigans on bus routes. Thank you! https://t.co/wqIkIKC1d2
— Safe Street Rebel – Yes on K+L (@SafeStreetRebel) September 11, 2023
The hammer attack comes after fire department officials claimed a Cruise vehicle blocked an ambulance from transporting a pedestrian who had been hit by a human driver to hospital. The victim later died of their injuries after the incident.
General Motors-backed Cruise strongly denies the San Francisco Fire Department’s claims that its vehicle blocked the ambulance from transporting Sammy Davis, 69, who had no fixed address, away from the emergency scene—a delay firefighters say contributed to the man’s death. The Chief Medical Examiner’s Office confirmed Davis’ identity to The Standard on Thursday.