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Incident · Fatality

27-year-old Mikhael Romanenko killed in SoMa chain-reaction crash involving speeding Tesla and stationary Waymo robotaxi

On January 18, 2025, a black Tesla traveling at approximately 98 mph struck multiple vehicles stopped at a red light at the intersection of Sixth and Harrison streets in San Francisco's SoMa neighborhood, causing a chain reaction that damaged seven vehicles. Among the impacted vehicles was an unoccupied, stationary Waymo robotaxi.

Mikhael Romanenko, a 27-year-old software developer, and his dog were killed in the crash; several others sustained injuries. The Tesla driver, Jia Lin Zheng, 66, was arrested and charged with vehicular manslaughter. The Waymo was stationary at a red light and its autonomous system played no active role in causing the crash, but the robotaxi was part of the crash sequence.

Occurred 2025-01-18 · Waymo · Investigated by NHTSA

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Incident records on DEPLOY are compiled from public sources (regulatory filings, news reports, and operator disclosures) and reflect what has been reported and tracked to date. They are not legal findings, determinations of fault, or safety ratings, and may be updated as new information is verified. See the sources below for the underlying references.
Track 27-year-old Mikhael Romanenko killed in SoMa chain-reaction crash involving speeding Tesla and stationary Waymo robotaxi

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Sources (2)

  1. San Francisco Standard · https://sfstandard.com/2025/01/19/san-francisco-car-crash-one-dead-waymo-hit/ · 2025-01-19
  2. NBC Bay Area · https://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/san-francisco/victim-deadly-multi-vehicle-crash/3768552/ · 2025-01-20

Status history

  • Active · 2026-07-25 · agent:recon

Common questions

What happened in 27-year-old Mikhael Romanenko killed in SoMa chain-reaction crash involving speeding Tesla and stationary Waymo robotaxi?
On January 18, 2025, a black Tesla traveling at approximately 98 mph struck multiple vehicles stopped at a red light at the intersection of Sixth and Harrison streets in San Francisco's SoMa neighborhood, causing a chain reaction that damaged seven vehicles. Among the impacted vehicles was an unoccupied, stationary Waymo robotaxi. Mikhael Romanenko, a 27-year-old software developer, and his dog were killed in the crash; several others sustained injuries. The Tesla driver, Jia Lin Zheng, 66, was arrested and charged with vehicular manslaughter. The Waymo was stationary at a red light and its autonomous system played no active role in causing the crash, but the robotaxi was part of the crash sequence.
When did this incident occur?
The incident is recorded as occurring on January 18, 2025 on the DEPLOY registry. The date reflects the underlying real-world event, not the registry record's creation date.
Who was involved in 27-year-old Mikhael Romanenko killed in SoMa chain-reaction crash involving speeding Tesla and stationary Waymo robotaxi?
The incident is recorded as involving Waymo on the DEPLOY registry. No specific robot model is linked to this incident in the registry.
Has anyone responded to 27-year-old Mikhael Romanenko killed in SoMa chain-reaction crash involving speeding Tesla and stationary Waymo robotaxi?
No responses to this incident are recorded on the DEPLOY registry. Operators, manufacturers, or affected parties can submit responses to the editorial team; absence is not a guarantee no response was issued.
What is the current status of 27-year-old Mikhael Romanenko killed in SoMa chain-reaction crash involving speeding Tesla and stationary Waymo robotaxi?
This incident is an active record on the DEPLOY registry; no retraction or correction has been issued.
Methodology: Verified · 2 sources (no primary) · last reviewed 2026-08-09

Verification posture

Verified

Low confidence

Review state

Stable

Last reviewed 2026-08-09

Sources by quality tier

2
unclassified
Unclassified source

The framework is documented at /methodology. Corrections at /corrections. Reviewer: DEPLOY editorial team.

Methodology surface for 27-year-old Mikhael Romanenko killed in SoMa chain-reaction crash involving speeding Tesla and stationary Waymo robotaxi.

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Canonical ID 69d5e408-91b5-4078-a0c2-8af82e7ac858