Police have attempted to justify stopping AC Milan midfielder Tiemoue Bakayoko at gunpoint in a shocking case of mistaken identity earlier this month.
The 27-year-old, who is in the second year of a two-season loan from Chelsea, was accosted in the Porta Garibaldi area of Milan on July 3. Police had set up a roadblock following a shootout between two gangs and Bakayoko was stopped and searched by police at the checkpoint in a terrifying ordeal.
In response to video footage of the incident going viral on Monday, local officers said they acted in “self-protection” and “in a manner absolutely consistent” with the seriousness of their investigation.
"It should be noted that the search occurred in an operational context that justified the adoption of the highest security measures," read the statement, initially published by Reuters.
"Also as a function of self-protection, and [it] was carried out in a manner absolutely consistent with the type of alarm in progress.
"Once the person had been identified and [it had been] established that he was not involved, the service was resumed without any kind of remark from the person concerned."
Video footage shows the central midfielder being restrained by an officer and pushed against the side of a police car at gunpoint. He's then searched before the officer in question appears to realise his mistake.
The officer appears to empty Bakayoko's pockets and place the contents on the roof of the police car, before two other officers – who have their guns drawn – point towards his car, where another occupant was being watched by a cop. The video footage cuts off at the point where the police appear to realise that they have made an error, possibly after Bakayoko explained who he was to clarify that this was a case of mistaken identity.
An earlier police statement, published by Gazzetta dello Sport , said: "The police action was triggered because Bakayoko and the other passenger corresponded perfectly, by chance, to the descriptions we had, and obviously it ended when it was realised that we had stopped a person who did not have anything to do with it [the crime]."
Bakayoko joined Chelsea in the summer of 2017 in a landmark £40million deal from Monaco and made 43 first-team appearances in his debut season at Stamford Bridge, helping the club to win that season's FA Cup crown.
He has not made a competitive first team start since and in addition two separate spells on loan at Milan, the Frenchman has also spent time back at Monaco and with Napoli. The loan agreement with Milan runs until the summer of 2023 and contains an option to buy.
