Robot reported in hit-and-run incident

A food delivery robot that allegedly crashed into a car and fled the crime scene was reported to the police in Finland.

The food delivery robot operated by the Finnish retail giant S Group has hit the parked car after losing control on a snow-covered sidewalk, according to Finland’s public broadcaster Yle.

The incident occurred over the weekend in capital Helsinki and was witnessed by a passer-by, who wished to remain anonymous. The robot was navigating an unplowed sidewalk and, reaching the edge of a snow pile, was ushered towards the car, where it got stuck, the witness said.

“Then it lurched back and forth against the side of the car, with the safety flag happily waving,” they told Yle, adding that both doors of the vehicle were scratched as a result.

The passerby said they lifted the helpless robot onto the roadway, but it fled the scene. Left with no other option, the witness notified emergency services about a “traffic incident.”

“The businesslike but amused emergency operator said he would notify the police. The police called, asked for identification and said that this incident was a career first," the witness was quoted as saying by Yle.

S Group, which operates delivery robots across Finland, said it was investigating the incident.

Last year, a British man claimed a Starship delivery robot with “a mind of its own" attacked him and his dog in Milton Keynes, a city north-west of London.