Ricardo dos Santos, a Portuguese sprinter based in London, said he released video of the incident in central London on Sunday morning to show that young black people still face “over-policing”. He said he feared for his safety during the stop – his third in the past two years. I’m not surprised I had to go through it again. While 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. 1/3 pic.twitter.com/Px2KSJZQi8 — Ricardo Dos Santos (@RDSS400) August 14, 2022 The Metropolitan Police said they have referred his complaint to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC). His spokesman told the Guardian he was taking legal advice on whether he could sue the force. Speaking live on BBC Radio 5, Dos Santos said nothing had changed since he and his partner, British sprinter Bianca Williams, were stopped and handcuffed by police in July 2020 in a racial profiling incident. The ‘Stop and Search’ controversies were reported in June as one of several scandals which led to the Met being placed under special measures by the police inspectorate. Dos Santos said: “My intention was clearly for people to understand that although the police have taken special measures nothing has or is going to change.” He added: “My worry is that it’s never going to stop. If people don’t talk about [it] especially people with a platform and a voice, it’s not going to stop.” In a statement on Monday, the Met said: “We have registered this matter as a public complaint. We have also referred it on a voluntary basis to the Independent Office for Police Conduct, recognizing the public interest. We await their views on how they might want to take this forward.” Dos Santos said his previous encounters led him to drive to a more visible spot when police initially tried to flag him down on the M40 flyover in the early hours of Sunday morning. Defending his decision not to stop immediately, he said: “The flyover is quite dark… For my own safety and based on my previous incidents with them, I thought the best place to stop would be somewhere lighted and with witnesses. I didn’t fail to stop, I stopped where it was safe to do so.” 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 added: “I was worried about my safety because two years ago I didn’t do anything wrong. And I got dragged out of my car and basically got hit by cops.” When he stopped, five minutes later, dos Santos was approached by seven armed police in three police vehicles. He said the officers acted aggressively. One was seen trying to break the window of his Tesla and another tried to stop him from walking in front of the car, where he could have been filmed by the vehicle’s camera, Dos Santos claimed. He said: “I think it was too much policing in this environment.” Police said a routine armed patrol called for further assistance after the car initially did not stop when requested. The Met confirmed Dos Santos was stopped on suspicion of using a mobile phone at the wheel. He was allowed to go after talking to officers. Dos Santos said he showed officers his phone to prove he wasn’t using it. He said he remained “as calm as possible.” He added: “It has happened many times. So that’s my rule.” He said he did not intentionally film the incident, pointing out that his car recorded video automatically. He said that after the incident in 2020 when his family stopped driving a Mercedes with tinted windows, they decided to change vehicles. “I thought a family car would stand out a lot less,” he said. He said the car’s cameras made him feel safer and one of the officers stopped being aggressive after being told the car had a camera. Dos Santos said, “You act differently when you know you’re being recorded.” Dos Santos declined the Met’s invitation, posted on Twitter, to discuss the matter. He said: “I have passed it on to my solicitor. I’m not going to have direct contact with them.” After video of the incident was posted on Twitter, dos Santos has been criticized on the platform for failing to stop in the first place. Several anonymous accounts claiming to represent police officers were among those criticizing Dos Santos. One post, purportedly written by a former firearms officer, accused him of trying to “bait the police into pursuing an anti-police agenda”. Dos Santos said: “I don’t let the comments affect me. Everyone on social media is talking about what should or shouldn’t have happened.”
