Waymo is emerging as a new crime-fighting tool

A 32-year-old man was peddling his bicycle along Galveston Street on the night of April 12, 2019, and as he approached Chippewa Drive, he was struck by the side of a moving car.

Witnesses saw the driver stop for a few moments before fleeing. The cyclist was left to lie out in the street – blood dripping from his face, his leg severely fractured. He was rushed to the hospital and treated for his injuries.

The Chandler Police Department canvassed the area for any residents with security cameras hoping one camera may have captured the collision on tape. But nothing turned up showing the suspect’s license plate number.

A month passed before a detective submitted a search warrant for video footage of a self-driving car, he suspected, recorded the hit-and-run suspect. The car belonged to Waymo, the Google-affiliated company often circulating autonomous cars around Chandler over the last few years.
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