Waymo’s latest real-world adventure wasn’t a wrong turn into a construction zone or a confused pause at a four-way stop. No, this one involved an active felony takedown, police officers with guns drawn, a suspect on the pavement, and one very determined robotaxi that apparently decided none of that applied to its evening route. As first reported by Jalopnik, a Waymo driverless Jaguar I-Pace cruised straight into a live police operation in downtown Los Angeles, offering an unplanned masterclass in what happens when cutting-edge autonomy meets old-fashioned law enforcement.
The video, which made the rounds on social media, shows police surrounding a white pickup truck at an intersection, weapons raised, lights blazing, and the suspect already prone on the asphalt. You can practically hear every human driver in a five-block radius whispering, “Nope.” But the Waymo, operating without a soul on board, made a lawful left turn on what looked like a fading yellow light and proceeded to trundle right up to the scene. You can see the video here:
Officers began shouting commands at the vehicle, which is adorable when you remember there was nobody inside to hear them. The robotaxi did appear to hesitate for a moment, even flicking on its right-turn signal as if it were preparing to pull over. Instead, it rolled forward, then backed up slightly, then seemed to reconsider the entire situation in that slow, deliberative way only a computer can. Jalopnik noted that the Waymo’s behavior resembled a mix of caution and stubborn commitment to whatever routing logic it had been fed, none of which included “don’t interrupt a felony stop.”
Fortunately, no one was hurt, the suspect was taken into custody without additional drama, and the robotaxi eventually complied in its own robotic way. Passengers inside the vehicle reportedly got an up-close look at an L.A. police operation, which is one way to make an autonomous ride more memorable—though probably not the way the marketing department prefers.
In a statement provided to Jalopnik, Waymo said its top priority remains safety and that the company is investigating what went wrong. Engineers will almost certainly classify this as an “edge case,” which is tech-speak for “something strange we didn’t train the car to expect.” And to be fair, police pointing guns at a suspect in the street while your robot brain believes it’s time for a left turn is about as edge-case as traffic scenarios get.
Still, these moments highlight the awkward middle ground we’re in. Human drivers know instantly what to do when sirens, lights, and officers shouting commands fill an intersection. Autonomous vehicles, even highly advanced ones, still struggle with the nuance. They can identify pedestrians, cyclists, speed limits, merging vehicles, and traffic cones. But a felony stop? Not exactly in the owner’s manual.
Nobody’s suggesting the Waymo was reckless; it behaved more like a golden retriever wandering into a chess match: polite, curious, and completely unaware of the stakes. But as cities continue inviting robotaxis to share space with real-world unpredictability, companies like Waymo will need to train their fleets to recognize that some situations require immediate, unquestioning avoidance.
After all, we want autonomous cars to be safer than humans, not simply more obedient to green arrows. And when police are pointing guns at a suspect, that’s a pretty good time for even the smartest robot to stay out of the way.
Photo: San Francisco, CA, March 15, 2025. Editorial Credit: Michael Vi/Shutterstock.com.