Portuguese sprinter Ricardo dos Santos posted a series of tweets and videos of him being pulled over and questioned by police. Dos Santos said officers believed he was on his phone when they stopped him and claimed an officer took his baton out of his pocket “out of frustration ready to break the window” after he didn’t know how to open the Tesla car’s door. He said “nothing has changed” since he was pulled over two years ago with his partner, Bianca Williams, and their daughter. “I’m not surprised I had to go through this again,” he tweeted. “Driving home last night 7 armed @metpoliceuk officers stopped me because they thought I was on my phone while driving. At their request, I departed when it was safe to do so. “After I stopped two police officers ran to either side of the car, a clenched fist knocked on my window and tried to open the car door. Not knowing how to use a Tesla grip, he took out his baton in frustration ready to break the glass. “Annoyed that 2 years later nothing has changed but they still manage to outwit the police. Why should 7 armed officers be present when I was alone. 2 or 3 at the most would be enough.” Archie Bland and Nimo Omer take you to the top stories and what they mean, free every weekday morning Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain information about charities, online advertising and content sponsored by external parties. For more information, see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and Google’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. He later said he had only shared part of the video on social media, as the rest is with his lawyer. In July 2020, footage of Williams and dos Santos being searched and handcuffed was widely shared on social media, with Williams later accusing the police of racially profiling them. Following the investigation, details of the couple’s three-month-old baby were also stored on a police database called Merlin, which is used to record information about children who come to the attention of the authorities. In April, police watchdog the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) said a serving sergeant and four officers would all face a serious misconduct disciplinary hearing over the incident. The Met said the stop was made this weekend as they were “concerned the driver may be using a mobile phone at the wheel”. In a statement, the force said: “We are aware of videos on social media showing part of a stop in a car. At approximately 04.00 on Sunday 14 August, armed officers were patrolling regularly in a marked police vehicle. “They saw a car traveling eastbound on the A40 Westway and are concerned the driver may be using a mobile phone at the wheel. “The officers clearly indicated that the car should roll over, but it did not and requested further assistance. The driver stopped about five minutes later in Orsett Terrace W2 and officers spoke to him about why they wanted to stop the vehicle. “After the conversation, the vehicle was allowed to move. We have since contacted the driver via Twitter to invite him to contact us if he would like to discuss this matter further.”
