KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WATE) — Two University of Tennessee students are facing charges after a video of a campus food delivery robot being thrown to the ground was posted to social media.
Patrick Callahan, 19, and Brock Garland, 20, both face one count of felony vandalism over $2,500 dollars after a food delivery robot was damaged on the evening of April 29.
According to an incident reports, the students were retrieving Garland’s food order from a delivery robot in the 1800 block of Fraternity Park Drive when the two attempted to shove the robot’s antenna inside the top compartment.
Video posted to social media shows Callahan then picked the robot up before slamming it to the ground.
Patrick Callahan Brock Garland
Data logs from the UT Office of Information Technology verified that the two students were in the exact area of the incident at the time it occurred. They were identified from social media posts by members of the Starship Technology crew, the company which owns and operates the robots used on college campuses across the country.
The replacement cost for the robot is $5,500.
A bonded arraignment has been scheduled for May 13.
The robots were recently introduced on the campus and allow students and faculty to have groceries and food delivered directly from campus dining services. The electronic robots are operated autonomously using a mixture of computer vision and GPS, reaching a top speed of 4 mph.