Rogue food delivery robot trashes LA woman’s garden then drove off with piece of her fence hanging from its wheel
An automated food delivery robot tore up a Los Angeles woman’s garden, got tangled in her fence and quickly drove away as she attempted to chase it down and stop it.
On Friday, Kaiya Reel was inside her East Hollywood home when she heard commotion coming from the small, curbside garden she cultivates outside her front gate.
The culprit of the noise was a Coco delivery robot. They are automated, four-wheeled machines that travel on sidewalks to bring people food and groceries. The bots primarily operate in Los Angeles and Chicago.
Reel told KTLA that after going outside to see what was happening, she found the Coco robot in her garden.
‘It had got my fence caught up in its wheel. It uprooted a whole bunch of plates in my garden and then just drove away with the fence attached to it,’ she said.
Reel told KTLA that she quickly chased after the robot and yelled for it to stop, which made her look ‘like a total crazy person.’
She also tried to get in front of it and block its path, but the Coco would just nimbly go around her.
The East Hollywood resident added that the robot did not slow down at any point as it dragged her palm fronds and fencing along the pavement, whipping parked cars in the process.
Los Angeles resident Kaiya Reel’s small, curbside garden was torn up by an automated delivery robot while she was inside her home on Friday
The fencing from the garden was dragged along the pavement by the delivery bot. Part of that displaced fencing is pictured
Reel’s curbside garden is pictured after she repaired the fence. The part closest to the sidewalk where there is just dirt marks where the robot uprooted her palm fronds
Reel said she chased after the robot and yelled at it to stop, which made her look ‘like a total crazy person.’ She is pictured exiting the front gate of her home to chase the bot
Reel’s neighbor, Roman Henson, was also a witness to the commotion.
Henson told KTLA they heard a crunching sound before seeing that ‘The robot had driven through the little fence and was dragging it.’
The neighbor also noted that Cocos and other autonomous vehicles or robots are a common sight in the neighborhood, and they are often unpredictable.
Henson jokingly told KTLA: ‘We’ve got the Cocos, the Waymos, and they’re coming for us.’
Reel said that she is concerned about her experience not being an anomaly. In previous incidents, Coco robots have been captured on video crashing into an ambulance and knocking over a parked motorcycle.
In a third incident, a Coco robot abruptly stopped in front of a man using a mobility scooter on the sidewalk, causing him to suddenly stop as well before bumping into it because of its unpredictable movement.
Reel told KTLA she is worried ‘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.’
She also said that Coco Robotics, the company that operates the delivery bots, has agreed to reimburse her for the damage to her garden.
An automated Coco delivery robot (pictured, stock image) was responsible for the damage to Reel’s garden
Reel’s neighbor, Roman Henson, also witnessed the commotion and jokingly said automated robots are ‘coming for us’
The company also promised to implement internal measures to prevent a similar problem from occurring to her or someone else in the future.
Carl Hansen, Vice President of Government Relations at Coco, told the Daily Mail in a statement: ‘Coco robots operate at speeds similar to a pedestrian.
‘During this particular event, one wheel lightly snagged a wire border installed along the public right-of-way (not on private property), which caused minor disturbance to a few small plants.
‘Coco immediately offered to cover any costs, and no one was hurt. Safety is always our top priority, and incidents like this are extremely rare. Coco’s robots have safely completed over a million miles of deliveries at walking speeds.’
