Pho Real? San Jose Restaurant Employees Foil Attempted Robot Theft.
Employees at Pho 21 restaurant in South San Jose were involved in an unusual confrontation with what could be described as an attempted “robot kidnapping” last weekend.
Surveillance footage from the restaurant captured the bizarre incident at around 7:40 a.m. last Saturday. A man entered the restaurant, asked to use the restroom, and then emerged with a much stranger plan. He was seen speaking with an employee before, rather than leaving, attempting to grab one of the restaurant's three robot servers and haul it toward his car parked right outside. The man appeared to struggle slightly with the weight of the device. Chaos ensued as employees scrambled to intervene, shouting and wrestling the robot back. Eventually, they managed to get the man to release the robot before calling the police.
Pho 21’s owner, Tony Ngo, explained that the robot is worth approximately $18,000, though it would have been essentially useless to the would-be thief. According to Ngo, the robot requires specialized programming to operate, meaning it couldn’t be used outside of the restaurant.
Fortunately, no injuries were reported, and the robot was unharmed. It has since returned to its duties, delivering bowls of pho to eager customers.
