Waymo Locks Two Rowdy Teens in Car Until Police Arrive

SAN MATEO, CA — San Mateo police detained two 15-year-old boys Monday after a Waymo robotaxi alerted officers that the teenagers were drinking alcohol and firing a toy gun loaded with gel pellets out the windows of the driverless vehicle as it moved through the city.

A Waymo representative called police around 2:10 p.m. after remote monitors flagged the activity inside the vehicle, San Mateo Police Department spokesperson Jeanine Luna said. Waymo disabled the car near 20th Avenue and El Camino Real and told the teens it was experiencing mechanical trouble, holding them in place until officers arrived. Believing they were responding to a firearm being discharged from a moving vehicle, officers approached the stop as high-risk, drawing stun guns and deploying a police dog.

“The occupants were not locked in and had every ability to exit the vehicle,” Luna said, addressing questions about how the stop was carried out.

Aftermath of the Waymo Incident Holding the Two Boys

No one was hurt, and the gun recovered from the car turned out to be a toy, though it had reportedly been altered to look real. Investigators are reviewing interior video from the vehicle and have forwarded an underage drinking allegation to the San Mateo County juvenile district attorney’s office, with additional charges tied to the toy gun still under review.

The incident is the second this summer involving unaccompanied minors and unusual in-cabin behavior in a California Waymo. On June 19, several boys — most appearing to be around 15, one as young as about 10 — were photographed hanging out of the windows of a Waymo as it drove through evening rush-hour traffic on Olympic Boulevard in Santa Monica. A witness who called Waymo’s customer service line said she was told the company could stop the car, but said it kept driving for several more blocks before she lost sight of it. Waymo later said it suspended the riders’ accounts for violating its user policy, which requires riders be at least 18 to use the service without an adult present in most California markets.

The back-to-back incidents have drawn attention to how autonomous vehicle operators verify rider age and monitor in-cabin behavior as robotaxi service expands across the state, with consumer advocates pointing to gaps in both areas.

No Injuries in the San Mateo Waymo Stop

Neither incident produced a reported injury, but California law offers several avenues for recovery if similar conduct results in harm to a passenger, bystander or other motorist. Under Civil Code section 1714, any person or entity — including an autonomous vehicle operator — that fails to exercise ordinary care can be held liable for resulting injuries. Because the teens involved in both incidents were minors, Civil Code section 1714.1 could also come into play: the statute imputes a minor’s willful misconduct, such as intentionally discharging a projectile from a moving vehicle, to the parent or guardian with custody and control, exposing them to joint and several liability capped at $56,400 as adjusted for 2026.

Vehicle Code section 21712 separately bars riding in or on a portion of a vehicle not designed for passengers, a provision historically enforced against a human driver who knowingly permits the conduct. Autonomous operation complicates that framework, since no driver occupies the vehicle to bear that duty, leaving open questions about whether and how the obligation shifts to the company operating the fleet. If a violation of a safety statute like section 21712 were shown to have caused injury to someone the law was designed to protect, Evidence Code section 669 could support a negligence per se argument, shifting the burden to the responsible party to rebut the presumption of fault. Any resulting personal injury claim would be subject to the two-year statute of limitations under Code of Civil Procedure section 335.1.

Call J&Y Law if You’ve Been Injured in a Robotaxi

Autonomous vehicles are increasingly common on Los Angeles and San Fernando Valley streets, and incidents involving unsupervised minors raise real questions about who bears responsibility when someone gets hurt. If you or a family member has been injured in an incident involving a self-driving vehicle, or believe a minor’s reckless conduct inside a vehicle caused you harm, you may have options for pursuing compensation from the vehicle operator, a parent or guardian, or another responsible party. J&Y Law represents injury victims across Los Angeles County on a contingency-fee basis, meaning there is no cost to you unless we recover compensation on your behalf. A free consultation can help clarify what happened and who may be accountable.