02 March 2023 , 09:21
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Portuguese Sprinter Ricardo Dos Santos - who was stopped by armed Met Police officers - said an officer only ceased “grabbing him” once he was discreetly told by his colleague that the car was filming.
In footage shared with the Mirror, Ricardo claimed that while he was being “manhandled” by armed police, he overheard another officer warn his colleague “to be careful” and that the "car was recording".
The athlete claimed police stopped him because they saw a “black man driving a decent-looking car”, and that one officer became “angry for no reason”. Ricardo said he feared the officer was about to smash his car window with a baton.
The 28-year-old and his partner Bianca Williams were previously stopped and handcuffed in July 2020 while their three-month-old baby sat in the car.
The case was referred to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), which stated that five officers would face a gross misconduct hearing.
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Now Ricardo, who was stopped again in August 2022, and claimed he was not given any record of the hour-long encounter, said he now has to be “prepared” for dealing with the police.
Ricardo Dos Santos published footage of the incident on Twitter (Getty Images)Speaking to the Mirror, Ricardo said: “When [the officer] started to grab me I was like these guys are going to try to do something.
“I had a very important competition a few days later, and that was my priority. I didn't want anything to happen. That's why I warned them that the car was recording.”
Ricardo said he was going home from a night out after charging his Tesla vehicle when he noticed police ahead of him.
His car, which he said was using the self-drive feature, continued on its route as Ricardo watched police following behind with no lights or sirens on.
Ricardo claimed that the police car suddenly pulled in front of him in the middle of the lanes, but that his car drove around them in an anti-collision manoeuvre.
The athlete - who was due to compete at the European Championships days later - said he decided to take over the automatic feature and choose a safe spot to stop for the police.
Ricardo claims that police suddenly then pulled in front of him in the middle of the lanes but that his car drove around them in an anti-collision manoeuvre. (Ricardo Dos Santos)But when he arrived at a space, Ricardo said he was worried that officers approaching would attempt to smash his window, while another “secretly” attempted to open the car door.
Ricardo said: “When [he opened the door], I'm like, ‘you know what, let me just step out because I don't want them to damage the car’.
“So I'm trying to go to the front of the car where there's more light, and it's well lit and the cameras can catch everything but [the officer] prevents me from walking to the front of the car.
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“And I'm like, ‘what are you doing? I've not done anything. Don't put your hands on me’.
“And he’s telling me, ‘you can’t move, you can’t move’, and I say, ‘ no, I’m not under arrest, I can walk around freely'.
“He tries to grab me and I’m brushing his hands off me, not to let him grab a hold of me.
“And then I managed to get out of his hold and I walked to the front and he's following me, still trying to hold on to me, trying to grab onto me.
“And then when we reach the front of the car he starts to manhandle me and I can see that he's now become very, very aggressive."
Ricardo said that as the situation began to escalate, the officer's colleague stepped in and warned him of the car cameras (Ricardo Dos Santos)Ricardo said that as the situation began to escalate, the officer's colleague stepped in and warned him about the car cameras.
Ricardo said: “When his colleague [warned him], he looked at the camera and then slowly let go of my hand, and after he let go of my hand, he just stood there for a few seconds and told his colleague, ‘alright you deal with him then’.
“I started laughing because it's like you guys really just stopped because you know there’s a camera, not because I didn’t do anything wrong.”
Ricardo said that although officers wear body cameras, they can choose what they want to film.
He said: “Their camera only captures what they want you to see.
“I’ve got eight cameras from different angles and they capture everything and you can't change it.”
Ricardo said he also urged officers to search for him on Google to see that this was not his “first rodeo”.
After giving him multiple reasons for the stop, including ‘failing to stop’, ‘being on his phone’ and ‘failing to have a driver’s licence’, Ricardo said he contested each point and officers finally let him go without any record of the stop or any points on his licence.
Ricardo says that officers choose what they want to capture on their bodycams (Ricardo Dos Santos)However, Ricardo said that although he was ready for the encounter, “it isn’t normal” to have to be as prepared as he was.
He said: “It's not normal. It's something that I wouldn't wish on anybody because you shouldn't be feeling this way.
“You shouldn't have to be prepared or worried if you're going to make it home safe.
“You should go home and go out and have fun without thinking about, ‘oh, you're gonna get stopped’.”
Ricardo shared the footage of the incident on social media so that the public could see for themselves what transpired.
However, shortly afterwards, the Met Police released a statement which left him feeling “sick”.
It wrote: "We are aware of footage on social media showing part of a stop on a car.
"At about 04.00hours on Sunday, 14 August, armed officers were on routine patrol in a marked police vehicle.
"They saw a car travelling eastbound on the A40 Westway and were concerned the driver may be using a mobile phone at the wheel.
The Metropolitan Police has released a statement about the incident (@RDSS400/Twitter)"The officers clearly indicated for the car to pull over but it failed to do so and they called for further assistance. The driver stopped about five minutes later in Orsett Terrace W2, and the officers spoke to him about why they wanted to stop the vehicle.
"Following the conversation the vehicle was allowed on its way. We have since contacted the driver via Twitter to invite him to contact us if he would like to discuss this matter further."
Ricardo said: “When I saw the statement in August, I felt sick because they made it out like we spoke about my day, we spoke about a football match. Like they had a brief conversation.
"But no, we did not have a brief conversation.
“They tried to sugarcoat it.”
The incident is now being investigated internally by the Met Police, which said: “An investigation is ongoing by professionalism officers into a vehicle stop in August last year.
“We were aware of footage issued on social media at the time showing part of the stop. We recorded this as a formal complaint and made a voluntary referral to the Independent Office for Police Conduct, recognising the public interest in this matter.
“The IOPC decided it did not need to investigate the stop and returned the complaint to the Met to investigate.
“The investigation is being led by the Directorate of Professional Standards. The complainant was informed.”