What police found
Emergency services called police to the scene. Officers found the teenager and his companion a block away, with the robot in a car. Police say the teenager had put it there.
A photo released by police shows the robot wearing a white tank top, a gold chain and black moustache.
Police also seized two mobile phones belonging to the suspects. Investigators are trying to establish whether someone intentionally directed the device during the incident.
The unanswered question
The reported livestream makes the phones potentially important evidence, but the police statement does not say whether footage exists or what it shows. I think that is the key distinction in this case: a robot’s presence does not establish who, if anyone, controlled its movements.
Police also warned in a subsequent Facebook post that some online comments about the case “could cross a line and, in the worst case, constitute a criminal offence.” That warning is a separate part of the story from the investigation into the incident itself.
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