Wrong Getaway Car: Fleeing Stabbing Suspect Slams Into Empty Tesla Cybercab, Lands In Cuffs

AUSTIN - A man accused of stabbing two people at a southeast Austin coffee shop picked the wrong car to run into on his way out. Police say he hit a Tesla Cybercab, and nobody was inside it.

The attack happened at 8:54 p.m. on Wednesday at Buzz Mill Coffee, 1505 Town Creek Drive, after the man caused a disturbance there, according to the Austin Police Department as reported by CBS Austin. A witness told police he was dressed in zombie makeup and a zombie costume, days before Halloween.

Both victims were seriously hurt. One was in critical condition, but police indicated that person survived the attack.

The man then fled in a pickup truck at high speed and struck an unoccupied Tesla Cybercab, police said. Officers later took him into custody, and police said he will likely face aggravated assault charges. KXAN also reported that the suspect crashed into a Tesla robotaxi as he left.

The empty cab is the detail that matters for Tesla's driverless service. With no rider on board, there was no passenger in the path of a fleeing truck. Police have not described any damage to the Cybercab, and they have not said whether the crash ended the getaway.

People at the coffee shop told police the man had caused trouble there before Wednesday night, but the department could not give details about earlier incidents. Detectives are working to learn whether he knew the victims.

It is the second time this month that another driver has hit a Cybercab in Austin. On 17 October a truck rear-ended a stopped Cybercab while a Twitch streamer was riding in it, and the cab moved itself to a safer spot afterward, as CyberCab.news reported. In both cases the driverless car was the one struck, not the one at fault.