Philadelphia woman arrested for blocking Uber delivery robot by standing in its way
by Brad Matthews · The Washington TimesThe Philadelphia Police Department arrested a woman for disorderly conduct after she refused to stop impeding an Uber delivery robot from going about its business.
The police responded Wednesday to reports of “criminal mischief involving a robot” and arrested the woman involved after she ignored multiple commands to move out of the way, the Philly Voice reported.
The woman involved, Carolyn Marvin, 78, told the news outlet that she has blocked the robots before as an act of protest.
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Ms. Marvin, a former University of Pennsylvania professor, also said she plans to contest the disorderly conduct charges on First Amendment grounds.
“I know they’re taking the jobs of human delivery workers and so, I have been protesting them whenever I saw them by standing in front of them and preventing them from going forward. … I think it’s my First Amendment right to publicly demonstrate on a sidewalk to protest against delivery robots,” Ms. Marvin told WPVI-TV.
Uber Eats has operated delivery robots, made by a separate company called Avride, in parts of Philadelphia since March.
Uber Global Head of Autonomous Delivery said in a statement: “We’re thrilled to introduce autonomous delivery robots in Philadelphia with Avride. … We look forward to introducing this cutting-edge technology to more Uber Eats customers over time in close collaboration with the Philadelphia community.”
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