Denver police receive seven Waymo vandalism reports after egg attacks on riders

Denver police had received about seven reports of vandalism involving Waymo vehicles since September, after the company began welcoming public riders in the city on Sept. 1. Passengers have described at least two egg attacks, but the motive for the vandalism remained unclear.

On Oct. 11 at about 6 p.m., two eggs struck the windshield of a Waymo carrying Connor McGriff near Lincoln Street, about a block from Capitol Hill, as it travelled toward LoDo. McGriff did not see the person responsible and could not tell whether the eggs came from a pedestrian or another motorist.

The vehicle appeared not to detect the impact and continued the trip normally, according to The Denver Gazette. McGriff, who was taking his first Waymo ride, said the incident would not stop him using the service but would make him more watchful in future. “I was not expecting that type of attention at all,” he said.

A separate passenger, Jeff Hunley, said a man in a nearby car removed a carton of eggs and threw them at the Waymo he was riding in on Sept. 24. Hunley posted video of the incident on TikTok, contacted Waymo and received a refund, but chose not to file a police report.

The incidents occurred alongside local concern over several Waymo driving episodes, including vehicles entering the South Pearl Farmers Market and a car show at Flat Six Coffee, and attempting to use a West Colfax street closed for resurfacing. Colorado had no mechanism for citing a driverless vehicle for traffic-law violations, according to the Denver Police Department, Colorado State Patrol and local reporting.

Waymo said its Denver launch, alongside new public service in San Diego and Tampa, brought fully autonomous trips to 14 cities in September. The company said its Waymo Driver had been involved in 94% fewer serious-injury-or-worse crashes than human drivers of the same time.

Vandalism has accompanied Waymo operations elsewhere. Police recorded as many as 24 attacks on the company’s autonomous Chrysler Pacifica vans in Chandler and suburban Phoenix between 2017 and 2019. In February 2024, a crowd in San Francisco smashed an empty Waymo’s windows, covered it in graffiti, threw a firework inside and set it ablaze.