Operator of self-driving Uber that killed Arizona pedestrian was felon, report says
(FOX NEWS) - The operator of a self-driving Uber vehicle that struck and killed a pedestrian in suburban Phoenix Monday was a convicted felon who served almost four years in prison on an attempted armed robbery charge, according to court records.
The Volvo was in self-driving mode with Rafaela Vasquez, 44, at the wheel when the car hit 49-year-old Elaine Herzberg as she was walking a bicycle outside the lines of a crosswalk, police said. Herzberg later died at a hospital.
Court records obtained by the Arizona Republic show Vasquez has a criminal record in Arizona under a different legal name, and was released from prison in 2005.
The 44-year-old served three years and 10 months in a state prison for convictions on attempted armed robbery and unsworn falsification.