Overview
- KitKat, the nine-year-old store cat at Randa’s Market, was taken to an emergency veterinarian after being found injured late Monday and later died, according to neighbors and the shop’s owner.
- A city 311 complaint filed shortly after the incident alleged a Waymo robotaxi hit the cat and did not try to stop, and a motorist reported seeing the vehicle suddenly swerve around 11:40 p.m.
- A growing memorial outside the 16th Street shop features flowers, candles, and tributes as residents remember the cat known locally as the “Mayor of 16th Street.”
- Waymo has not publicly commented despite multiple media inquiries, and no independently verified surveillance footage or official incident report has been released.
- The episode has fueled broader discussion of autonomous-vehicle oversight as traders launch KitKat-themed meme tokens and as NHTSA continues a separate review of Waymo’s fleet.