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A food delivery robot caused a stir over the weekend after it uprooted a California woman's garden and drove off with part of her fence tangled in its wheel.
The incident happened when East Hollywood resident Kaiya Reel was inside her home and heard loud noises outside. According to KTLA, Reel discovered a bright pink Coco food delivery robot in her garden. She said, "It had got my fence caught up in its wheel. It uprooted a whole bunch of plants in my garden and then just drove away with the fence attached to it."
Reel chased after the robot, yelling for it to stop, but the robot kept moving. As it continued down the street, the robot dragged fencing and palm fronds, which whipped against parked cars. "I was trying to block it and get in its way, and it would try to go around me," Reel told reporters.
Neighbor Roman Henson also witnessed the scene. "I heard this crunching sound and turned around," Henson said. "The robot had driven through the little fence and was dragging it."
Residents voiced concerns about repeated issues with autonomous delivery robots in Los Angeles. Past incidents have included a Coco robot running into an ambulance and another company’s robot knocking over a motorcycle. One robot even stopped abruptly in front of a man using a mobility scooter. Reel said, "I think the part that worries me is that these companies can come in and dump their technology in our community and there’s no sense of accountability. It just feels like an accident waiting to happen."
After contacting the company that operates the Coco robots, she was told she would be reimbursed for her garden damages. The company also stated that internal steps will be taken to prevent similar incidents in the future.