The assault was detected and immediately reported, Mr Stephens said.
The alarms on the robot sounded, the suspect attempted to flee the scene and was detained by one of my colleagues and me until the Mountain View Police arrived.
Children approach a K5 robot assigned to security patrol at an American shopping centre. Picture: Georgia WellsSource:The Wall Street Journal
Sylvain now faces prowling and public intoxication charges.
Its not the first time an independently operating robot has faced trouble in the real world.
A droid that set out to hitchhike across the US lasted two weeks before it was brutally vandalised in Philadelphia in 2015.