Police: Armless robot loses fight to drunk man

Knightscope K5 security robots patrol alongside a pier in San Diego. The robots are designed to sense intruders at odd hours.﻿ One in working in Mountain View las week was assaulted, police said. Knightscope K5 security robots patrol alongside a pier in San Diego. The robots are designed to sense intruders at odd hours.﻿ One in working in Mountain View las week was assaulted, police said. Photo: Stacy Dean Stephens, HONS Photo: Stacy Dean Stephens, HONS Image 1 of / 19 Caption Close Police: Armless robot loses fight to drunk man 1 / 19 Back to Gallery

A 41-year-old Mountain View man was facing charges after he allegedly picked a fight with a 5-foot-tall, 300-pound security robot.

The robot, named K5, has no arms, so it wasn't a fair fight. In fact, K5 can't really defend itself, unless you count occasionally spinning in a circle and whistling as a defensive skill.

The Knightscope droid was knocked down on its back — or maybe its front, it's hard to tell due to K5's nose-cone physique — while patrolling the parking lot near Terra Bella and Linda Vista Avenue, according to ABC7 News.

Police identified the robot assailant as Jason Sylvain, who they said was drunk. Sylvain is accused of prowling and public intoxication.

Knightscope said the robot suffered only scratches in last week's incident and is now back on the job. The company told ABC7 that "it's a testament to the technology that police caught the aggressor and booked in him jail."

An overgrown R2D2 look-alike, the K5 is designed to alert security guards to disturbances and detect known shoplifters with its camera, which evidently captured the assault. They are rented out to companies for about $7 an hour.

A K5 unit made headlines in July when it ran over a 16-month toddler, hurting his leg and foot, at the Stanford Shopping Mall.