An athlete allegedly racially profiled during a stop-and-search in 2020 doubled down on the Met Police on Tuesday, saying he does not feel safe driving in London after being pulled over a second time.
Sprinter Ricardo Dos Santos, 27, on Sunday night published clips of him being stopped in his Tesla by seven armed officers who believed he was on a mobile. He later expressed his annoyance and accused the force of over-policing.
Scotland Yard invited Mr Dos Santos to contact them but when he didn’t they referred the matter to its watchdog, the Independent Office for Police Conduct.
The Portuguese athlete suggested he has recently changed to an electric “family car” in an attempt to avoid being profiled.
Mr Dos Santos said he continued driving for 2.4 miles after police signalled for him to pull over in west London because he wanted to stop somewhere “safe”, “well-lit” and where there would be “people around”.
Asked on BBC Breakfast what he thought the reason was behind police pulling him over more than once, the 400-metre runner said: “I can’t tell you why.
“I’ve recently changed cars, I’ve got a family car just so I can stand out a lot less, but I guess it’s not the car, it’s the person driving the car.
“They saw me, they thought that I was on my phone, but I proved to them that I wasn’t on my phone.”
Mr Dos Santos claimed he had been holding his fingers to his face, and officers mistook this for him making a call.
When asked how safe he felt driving around London following the incident, he said: “I honestly don’t. I don’t feel safe at all.
“The first thing I said to myself when I saw the car was, ‘Is it going to happen?’
“And every time I do see a police car when I’m driving I think, ‘Is it going to happen this time? Will it happen this time? When is it going to happen again?’”
Mr Dos Santos claimed one officer took a baton out of his pocket “out of frustration ready to smash the glass” after not knowing how to open the vehicle’s door.
He said the officers’ behaviour changed when they realised he had a camera in his car, but did not specify how.
Mr Dos Santos commented he would like police to “be aware of how people actually feel” when conducting searches.
He added that “nothing had changed” two years after he was pulled over with his partner, Bianca Williams, now 28, and their daughter in Maida Vale.
In July 2020, footage of Ms Williams and Mr Dos Santos being searched and handcuffed was widely shared on social media, with Ms Williams later accusing the police of racially profiling them.
After the search, details of the couple’s three-month-old baby were also stored on a police database called Merlin, used to record information on children who become known to the authorities.
In April, the IOPC said an acting police sergeant and four police constables will all face a gross misconduct disciplinary hearing over the incident.
Mayor Sadiq Khan “was aware” of Mr Dos Santos’s footage, with a spokesman adding: “He understands the Met have offered to speak to Ricardo and will await the outcome of any discussions.
“A previous, widely-reported encounter, between Mr Dos Santos and the Met was deeply upsetting to many Londoners and the Mayor not only welcomed an independent investigation by the IOPC, but also its subsequent findings.
“Sadiq has repeatedly made clear the extent of change required in the Met, and that the incoming Commissioner must do all he can to help restore trust and confidence in the service among all communities.”
The Met said it had nothing further to add having recorded the matter as a public complaint and referred it to the IOPC.
“We await their views on how they may wish to take this forward,” a spokesman said.
The IOPC said it was assessing the available information before it decided what to do.
