Category - True crime
Restaurant Employees Foil Man’s Theft of Robotic Co-Worker
Quick-thinking California restaurant workers foiled a would-be thief’s attempt to steal their robotic co-worker who’s worth almost $20,000, ABC News 7 reported.
Security footage captured last Saturday at San Jose eatery Pho 21 shows a man entering the restaurant at around 7:40 a.m., about 20 minutes before it was to open. At first, the man acted as if he was going to use one of the restrooms, but he quickly turned around and picked up one of the establishment’s robotic employees. Wrapping his arms around the center, the man very slowly pulls the robot out of the restaurant and into the parking lot.
After finally making it to his car and hoisting his prize into the trunk, the restaurant’s human employees rushed the parking lot and wrestled their mechanical friend to safety. The suspect eventually relented and stayed on the scene until police arrived to arrest him.
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Pho 21’s owner, Tony Ngo, explained that the robot is valued at a staggering $18,000, but it would have had no value to the near-thief. The machine runs on a special program, rendering it unusable outside of the restaurant. No humans or robots were injured in the farcical episode, and Ngo noted that the robot has moved beyond its attempted kidnapping and has resumed serving eager patrons.
Robotic servers have become increasingly common in recent years, both as a way of cutting down on costs and ensuring consistent service. Chipotle introduced robots after a viral campaign took aim at the franchise’s allegedly shifting portion sizes, while Jack in the Box’s CEO said that replacing humans with machines is the logical course of action.