Police in San Francisco have identified a teenager suspected in an autonomous vehicle fire that occurred in Chinatown in February, the department said this week.

On Feb. 10 just before 9 p.m., units responded to the 700 block of Jackson Street regarding a vehicle fire. Once there, police discovered an Waymo autonomous vehicle ablaze, which investigators later determined was the result of arson. 

 A 14-year-old boy has been identified as the suspect and detectives searched his residence in late March, where they allege they found evidence linking him to the crime. 

Since the suspect is a juvenile, the juvenile probation department will decide if he will be arrested or appear in court out of custody, San Francisco Police said. The department said that prosecutors have also filed charges. 

Smoke and flames rise from a Waymo robotaxi after it was attacked by a crowd on Stockton Street in San Francisco’s Chinatown on Feb. 10, 2024, in a framegrab from video. Vandals used a firework to set the car on fire, San Francisco Fire Department officials said. (Michael Vandi/X)

Police initially said that the car had been surrounded by 10 to 15 people, though no other arrests appear to have been made. 

The San Francisco Fire Department said on social media at the time that the vehicle had graffiti on it, its windows were broken, and a firework was apparently lit and put inside, which ignited it. 

There were no reports of injuries.

Katy St. Clair got her start in journalism by working in the classifieds department at the East Bay Express during the height of alt weeklies, then sweet talked her way into becoming staff writer, submissions editor, and music editor. She has been a columnist in the East Bay Express, SF Weekly, and the San Francisco Examiner. Starting in 2015, she begrudgingly scaled the inverted pyramid at dailies such as the Vallejo Times-Herald, The Vacaville Reporter, and the Daily Republic. She has her own independent news site and blog that covers the delightfully dysfunctional town of Vallejo, California, where she also collaborates with the investigative team at Open Vallejo. A passionate advocate for people with developmental disabilities, she serves on both the Board of the Arc of Solano and the Arc of California. She lives in Vallejo.