In what sounds like a scene from a science fiction thriller, a humanoid robot has been arrested by police after terrifying an elderly woman in China.
According to local authorities, the 70–year–old woman was startled by the robot when she suddenly noticed it standing behind her.
A viral clip shows the woman yelling and waving her bag at the diminutive bot, which repeatedly raises its arms in the air.
Footage then shows two police officers escorting the Unitree G1 down the road, with one leading the robot by its shoulder.
Police told reporters that the woman had stopped to check her phone when the robot halted behind her, waiting for her to clear the path.
The elderly pedestrian was then ‘frightened’ to discover that the robot was silently following her down the road.
Following the incident, the woman told police that she was feeling unwell and was taken to hospital for a check–up and treatment.
After doctors confirmed there was no physical altercation between her and the robot, the unnamed woman said that she wouldn’t be filing a complaint against the bot’s operator.
A bizarre video shows the moment a humanoid robot is arrested by police after terrifying an elderly woman in China
The altercation occurred at 21:00 local time outside a residential complex in Macau, China.
In the video, according to a translation by the Macau Post, the woman can be seen yelling: ‘You’re making my heart race!
‘You’ve got plenty to do, so what’s the point of messing around with this? Are you freaking crazy?’
While the robot was not officially arrested, police did remove it from the scene and returned it to its operator, a man in his 50s, who was reminded to exercise caution.
However, on social media, the short clip of a robot being escorted away by police has sparked a wave of memes, as commenters joke that this is the ‘first robot arrest in history’.
On X, one commenter joked: ‘Looks like the robot needs a lawyer or some basic rights.’
‘We are rapidly approaching a new wacky timeline,’ added another.
One asked: ‘Did the robot have a mugshot? Did the robot go to court?’
A viral clip shows the woman yelling and waving her bag at a Unitree G1 robot, which repeatedly raises its arms in the air
While one chimed in: ‘This is exactly how the matrix started.’
However, others were far less sympathetic, blaming the elderly woman for overreacting to the robot’s presence.
One commenter coldly wrote: ‘Clearly the woman is the problem, not the robot.’
‘Lock that woman up for impeding a robotic lifeform,’ another added.
Authorities revealed that the robot belonged to a nearby education centre, which had been using the Unitree G1 robot as part of a promotion.
Towin Mak, a spokesperson for the education centre, told local broadcaster Teledifusão de Macau (TDM) that the robot was leaving the area when it encountered the elderly woman.
Mr Mak added that it was being guided by a mix of autonomous programming and remote supervision at the time.
The robot’s operator has apologised for causing distress.
Following the incident, the 70–year–old woman told police that she was feeling unwell and was taken to hospital for a check–up and treatment. She later decided to bring a complaint against the robot’s operator
While this may be the first time that the police have had to bring a robot into custody, police forces are already making robots part of their approach to fighting crime.
Professor Ivan Sun, from the University of Delaware, previously predicted that robotic police officers would be patrolling our streets in just five years.
These real–life robocops will be able to detect, pursue and apprehend suspects – likely working alongside human supervisors.
Meanwhile, countries like China and Singapore have begun trialling robotic police robots, with varying degrees of success.
For example, the Xavier robot in Singapore patrols public spaces to detect ‘undesirable social behaviours’ such as smoking before relaying the information to human officers.
While in China, AI–powered robots such as the AnBot have been integrated into security systems to conduct surveillance, verify identities and patrol transport hubs. In the UAE, robots have been used in more service–oriented roles such as greeting tourists or providing multilingual assistance during large events.
