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(VIDEO) Shirtless Man Arrested After Vandalizing Waymo, Halting Traffic in Busy East Hollywood Intersection

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Shirtless Man Arrested After Vandalizing Waymo, Halting Traffic in Busy

A shirtless man was arrested Saturday after climbing onto a Waymo self-driving vehicle in the middle of a busy East Hollywood intersection and tearing apart parts of the car while traffic came to a full stop around him, according to the Los Angeles Police Department and video footage captured by bystanders.

The incident unfolded shortly after 1:35 p.m. at the intersection of Sunset Boulevard and Edgemont Street, according to LAPD. Video of the scene, posted to the Citizen app, shows the man lounging on the Waymo’s shattered windshield before climbing onto the roof of the self-driving car and pulling out its internal components while shouting at the sensor mounted on top of the vehicle and at nearby traffic. An LAPD officer said the department responded to a call reporting a disturbance, describing a man with no shirt and brown pants standing on top of a car and vandalizing its windshield.

Traffic on Sunset Boulevard came to a complete standstill as drivers braked to avoid the stopped Waymo, with bystanders filming the scene as officers arrived and pulled the man off the vehicle. Officers took the man into custody at the scene and arrested him on suspicion of vandalism. It remains unclear whether anyone was riding inside the Waymo when the vandalism began, and the man’s identity had not been publicly released as of Monday. What prompted the outburst also remains unclear, with authorities and Waymo yet to offer an explanation for what triggered the confrontation.

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Under California law, vandalism is governed by Penal Code Section 594, which allows the offense to be charged as either a misdemeanor or, depending on the extent of the damage and the suspect’s criminal history, a felony “wobbler.” Potential penalties for a vandalism conviction in California can include fines, court-ordered restitution to cover repair costs, and jail time, with the severity of any sentence generally tied to the dollar value of the damage caused.

Waymo, the autonomous vehicle company owned by Google parent company Alphabet, expanded its ride-hailing service across Los Angeles in June 2025, adding to a growing footprint of driverless vehicles operating throughout the city’s streets. Since that expansion, the company’s self-driving cars have periodically become flashpoints for both public frustration and outright vandalism. The vehicles have drawn criticism from some residents and drivers for occasionally causing traffic disruptions in already congested parts of the city, including reports of Waymo vehicles freezing or struggling to navigate around active emergency scenes.

Saturday’s incident adds to a string of similar episodes involving Waymo vehicles in the Los Angeles area over the past year. Last month, a group of teenagers was seen dangerously hanging out of the windows of a Waymo as the vehicle made its way through busy Santa Monica traffic, an incident that drew widespread attention on social media. In a separate case, two 15-year-olds were detained by police after Waymo itself contacted law enforcement regarding reports of underage drinking and the use of Orbeez gel blasters, a type of toy gun that fires small water-absorbing beads, from inside one of its driverless vehicles. During periods of unrest in Los Angeles last year, Waymo vehicles were also targeted more destructively, with several reported to have been set on fire amid broader protest activity in the city.

Waymo’s practice of reviewing onboard vehicle footage and, in some cases, proactively alerting police to passenger behavior, as occurred in the teen drinking incident, has sparked a broader conversation among privacy advocates and policy analysts about how autonomous vehicle companies monitor and manage the behavior of both passengers and members of the public interacting with their vehicles on public roads. Saturday’s vandalism incident is likely to add further fuel to that ongoing debate, particularly given how publicly and disruptively it played out in the middle of one of East Hollywood’s busiest intersections during daylight hours.

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KTLA reported that it had reached out to both the LAPD and Waymo for further comment on the incident and had not received a response from either as of the station’s initial report. Other local outlets covering the story similarly noted that Waymo had not immediately responded to requests for information about how the company’s onboard safety systems are designed to respond to physical attacks on its vehicles, or whether incidents of vandalism targeting its driverless cars have become more frequent since the service’s expansion across the city.

The confrontation is the latest example of a broader pattern of friction between the public and the autonomous vehicle industry as robotaxi services continue expanding into more cities across the United States. As companies like Waymo scale up their driverless fleets, incidents involving vandalism, unruly passengers and general public curiosity or hostility toward the unmanned vehicles have become a recurring storyline in cities where the technology has taken root, raising ongoing questions for both law enforcement and the companies themselves about how best to protect the vehicles, the public and the riders who use them.

For now, the man arrested Saturday faces potential vandalism charges as the investigation continues, with the LAPD’s Hollywood Division handling the case. Waymo has not detailed the extent of the damage caused to the vehicle or indicated whether it plans to pursue restitution through the criminal justice process, a step companies operating vandalism-prone equipment in public spaces sometimes take following high-profile incidents of property damage.

The episode comes amid an unusually active stretch of local news in Los Angeles, with KTLA’s coverage of the Waymo incident appearing alongside reports of an unrelated armed standoff in Fullerton and an off-duty Long Beach police officer opening fire on robbery suspects over the same weekend, part of a broader wave of local crime and public safety stories the station covered heading into the new week. As of Monday, no additional details about formal charges against the man arrested in the Waymo vandalism case had been released by the Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office or the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office, both of which typically handle the filing of vandalism-related charges depending on the severity of the alleged offense.

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Puratos builds momentum in regenerative wheat sourcing

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Puratos builds momentum in regenerative wheat sourcing

Company enrolling 30% of wheat flour volumes into regenerative agriculture programs. 

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Angel One Q1 Results: Net profit doubles to Rs 231 crore

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Angel One Q1 Results: Net profit doubles to Rs 231 crore
Angel One Ltd on Wednesday reported a more than two-fold increase in consolidated profit after tax to Rs 231.4 crore for the quarter ended June 30, 2026, driven by strong retail client participation and robust trading volumes.

The fintech and stock broking firm’s PAT stood at Rs 114.5 crore in the corresponding quarter of the preceding financial year.

However, on a sequential basis, profit declined 28 per cent from Rs 320 crore in Q4 FY26. ​

Total income rose 25.4 per cent to Rs 1,434 crore during the April-June quarter of FY27 from Rs 1,143 crore a year ago, the broking firm said in a stock exchange filing. ​

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Angel One’s total client base grew nearly 19 per cent year-on-year to 3.86 crore. The company’s average client funding book under its credit business reached a record Rs 6,140 crore during the June quarter, marking a 46 per cent year-on-year increase.


In addition, total orders increased 18.4 per cent year-on-year to 40.6 crore in the quarter.
Angel One’s asset management business recorded an AUM of Rs 620 crore at the end of June 2026, an 81.4 per cent rise from the year-ago period.The company’s board of directors has declared a first interim dividend of Re 1 per equity share.

Total expenses increased to Rs 1,109 crore in the quarter under review from Rs 979 crore in the corresponding period last year, mainly due to higher employee costs, finance costs and other operating expenses.

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Form 4 Northfield Bancorp Inc For: 15 July

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Form 4 Northfield Bancorp Inc For: 15 July

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Dell leads broader AI hardware selloff as shares tumble 14%

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Dell leads broader AI hardware selloff as shares tumble 14%

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Qualcomm Earnings Preview: A Lot Of Growth Potential Not Baked In Yet (Upgrade) (QCOM)

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Qualcomm Earnings Preview: A Lot Of Growth Potential Not Baked In Yet (Upgrade) (QCOM)

This article was written by

MSc in Finance. Long-term horizon investor mostly with 2-5 year horizon. I like to keep investing simple. I believe a portfolio should consist of a mix of growth, value, and dividend-paying stocks but usually end up looking for value more than anything. I also sell options from time to time.

Analyst’s Disclosure: I/we have no stock, option or similar derivative position in any of the companies mentioned, but may initiate a beneficial Long position through a purchase of the stock, or the purchase of call options or similar derivatives in QCOM over the next 72 hours. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it (other than from Seeking Alpha). I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.

Seeking Alpha’s Disclosure: Past performance is no guarantee of future results. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. Any views or opinions expressed above may not reflect those of Seeking Alpha as a whole. Seeking Alpha is not a licensed securities dealer, broker or US investment adviser or investment bank. Our analysts are third party authors that include both professional investors and individual investors who may not be licensed or certified by any institute or regulatory body.

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Port of Immingham chosen for job-creating aviation fuel refinery project

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Business Live

ETFuels says its decision is a major vote of confidence in the Humber region

Project King's Road could create up to 50 permanent jobs.

At the launch of Project King’s Road, from left: Ralph Windeatt, Associated British Ports; Lara Naqushbandi, CEO ETFuels; and Dame Andrea Jenkyns DBE, Mayor of Greater Lincolnshire.(Image: David Lee Photography Ltd)

Port of Immingham has been selected as the location for a new advanced fuels refinery which will create up to 50 permanent jobs.

ETFuels has chosen the Associated British Ports-owned site for ‘Project King’s Road’ which will convert renewable e-methanol into sustainable aviation fuel for supply into the UK’s aviation fuel network and for export into international markets. The move promises the creation of 500 jobs in the construction phase and 50 permanent roles thereafter.

ABP says the plant will benefit from access to the Humber’s extensive fuel storage, pipeline and distribution infrastructure, and connections to the UK’s aviation fuel supply network. It has also pointed to Immingham’s deep water port facilities.

Lara Naqushbandi, CEO of ETFuels, said: “Project King’s Road represents a major vote of confidence in the Humber and in Britain’s industrial future. The Humber is already one of the UK’s most important energy and logistics hubs. We believe it can also become the country’s leading hub for next-generation fuels production.

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“What attracted us to Immingham was the combination of outstanding infrastructure, a highly skilled industrial workforce and direct access to one of the largest fuel distribution networks in the country. Combined with access to some of the world’s most competitive renewable fuel feedstocks from our Texas platform, it gives Britain a genuine opportunity to build an advanced fuels industry capable of competing with the best projects anywhere in the world.

“This is about much more than a single facility. It’s about creating a new advanced manufacturing capability for Britain, attracting investment into the Humber and establishing a strategic industry that can deliver jobs and growth for decades to come. We named this project after the road it sits on. That’s deliberate — we’re not building a facility that happens to be in Immingham; we’re building something that belongs here.”

Andrew Dawes, regional director of the Humber ports for Associated British Ports, said: “Immingham is already Britain’s largest port by tonnage, key to ABP’s twin missions of Keeping Britain Trading and Enabling the Energy Transition. Project King’s Road is exactly the kind of long‑term, high‑value industrial partnership that brings these priorities together – one that puts our world‑class port infrastructure, deep‑water berths and established fuel‑handling capabilities to work in safeguarding reliable, resilient energy supplies for the UK, while delivering substantial investment and high‑quality jobs. We look forward to working closely with ETFuels, Greater Lincolnshire Combined Authority and the wider Humber industrial community to make this project a reality.”

Dame Andrea Jenkyns, Mayor of Greater Lincolnshire, said: “Greater Lincolnshire has always been a region that makes things, moves things and powers the nation. Project King’s Road represents exactly the kind of investment we want to attract: innovative, industrial and ambitious. This project has the potential to create high-quality jobs, strengthen our energy sector and place the Humber at the forefront of a new global growth industry.

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“A project named after its home in our community signals that ETFuels intends to be here for the long term. That matters to us. We look forward to working closely with ETFuels and partners to maximise the economic opportunities for our communities.”

Did you know you can make ChronicleLive a preferred source of North East news in Google, which will mean you get more of our breaking news, exclusives, and must-read stories straight away? Here’s more information about what this means and how to do it – you can also do it straight away by clicking here.

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Blackstone: The Largest Data Center Investor Is On Sale Yielding 3.8% (NYSE:BX)

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Virtus Large Cap Growth SMA Q1 2026 Commentary

This article was written by

I am focused on growth and dividend income. My personal strategy revolves around setting myself up for an easy retirement by creating a portfolio which focuses on compounding dividend income and growth. Dividends are an intricate part of my strategy as I have structured my portfolio to have monthly dividend income which grows through dividend reinvestment and yearly increases. Feel free to reach out to me on Seeking Alpha

Analyst’s Disclosure: I/we have no stock, option or similar derivative position in any of the companies mentioned, and no plans to initiate any such positions within the next 72 hours. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it (other than from Seeking Alpha). I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.

Disclaimer: I am not an investment advisor or professional. This article is my own personal opinion and is not meant to be a recommendation of the purchase or sale of stock. The investments and strategies discussed within this article are solely my personal opinions and commentary on the subject. This article has been written for research and educational purposes only. Anything written in this article does not take into account the reader’s particular investment objectives, financial situation, needs, or personal circumstances and is not intended to be specific to you. Investors should conduct their own research before investing to see if the companies discussed in this article fit into their portfolio parameters. Just because something may be an enticing investment for myself or someone else, it may not be the correct investment for you.

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Seeking Alpha’s Disclosure: Past performance is no guarantee of future results. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. Any views or opinions expressed above may not reflect those of Seeking Alpha as a whole. Seeking Alpha is not a licensed securities dealer, broker or US investment adviser or investment bank. Our analysts are third party authors that include both professional investors and individual investors who may not be licensed or certified by any institute or regulatory body.

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Form 4 Vivos Inc For: 15 July

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Form 4 Vivos Inc For: 15 July

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Little Debbie grows up

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Fudge, crème pie filling merge in Little Debbie launch

McKee Foods sets the stage for its next phase of growth.

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Alvin and the Chipmunks reboot: IP lessons for SMEs

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Alvin and the Chipmunks reboot: IP lessons for SMEs

Alvin, Simon and Theodore are heading back to work, and the deal behind their return is a quiet masterclass in how a family business should treat its most valuable asset.

Big Shot Pictures, the family-entertainment company led by former Paramount co-chief executive Brian Robbins, has taken a 25 per cent stake in the 68-year-old Alvin and the Chipmunks franchise in partnership with Bagdasarian Productions, which owns the property. New digital-first, short-form content is planned for later this year, with a theatrical film to follow in late 2028, timed to the Chipmunks’ 70th anniversary and distributed under Big Shot’s first-look deal with Sony Pictures Entertainment.

The numbers behind the world’s smallest boy band are anything but small: 38 studio albums, more than $1 billion at the box office and five Grammys.

For UK business owners, though, the interesting part is not the nostalgia. It is the ownership story.

Ross Bagdasarian Sr invented the trio in 1958 by speeding up his own voice on a $200 tape recorder, naming the characters after the top executives at his record label. When he died suddenly in 1972, his son Ross Bagdasarian Jr inherited the franchise at just 22, a reminder of why succession planning deserves attention long before it is needed. He and his wife Janice Karman have owned it ever since, recording the Chipmunks’ helium voices from a studio in their own home.

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“These characters are literally embedded in our DNA,” Bagdasarian Jr said.

The couple learned the hard way what happens when intellectual property falls into the wrong hands. In 1996 they licensed partial ownership to the company later known as Universal Studios, then sued in 2000 for breach of contract, claiming the studio had failed to actively promote the characters. They won, and reclaimed full ownership.

It is a cautionary tale for any smaller firm signing away rights to a bigger partner. A well-drafted licensing agreement should set out exactly how your IP can be used, and the Intellectual Property Office’s guidance on licensing warns owners to be wary of licensees who might lessen the value of the asset.

Since the four live-action films released between 2007 and 2015, the Bagdasarians have kept the rodents off the big screen for more than a decade, turning down suitors while the computer-animated series “ALVINNN!!! and the Chipmunks” ran on Nickelodeon from 2015 to 2023.

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“We’ve really waited for the right place and the right person to bring our little grab bag of Chipmunk goodies back to the public.” Bagdasarian Jr said. “And this for us feels like absolutely the right thing.”

The plan now is unashamedly digital-first. Robbins expects the Chipmunks to appear on feeds almost like influencers, with clips of the trio reacting to cultural moments or covering classic songs. It is a strategy that follows the audience: Ofcom’s Media Nations 2025 report found YouTube is now the UK’s second most-watched service, behind only the BBC.

“It’s about having the Chipmunks really playing into the zeitgeist and trying to live in real time with pop culture,” Robbins said.

“If we had started maybe a few weeks ago, we definitely would have had Alvin showing up to a certain big wedding at Madison Square Garden,” Bagdasarian Jr said.

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The lesson for SMEs is worth restating. Protect your intellectual property early, license it on your own terms, and if a deal goes sour, fight for it. Then wait, however long it takes, for the right partner. Nearly 70 years on from that $200 tape recorder, patience has left one family in control of a billion-dollar asset.


Jamie Young

Jamie Young

Jamie Young is Senior Reporter at Business Matters, covering SME finance, employment law and Westminster policy since 2016. He has reported on every Budget and Autumn Statement since 2018, helped make sense of the ‘covid era’ and the bounce-back loan scheme from launch through the fraud investigations, and broke the magazine’s coverage of the 2024 late-payment reforms. He joined Business Matters straight from completing his BA in Administration from Exeter University and is NCTJ-qualified. Reach him at jyoung@cbmeg.co.uk

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