Ricardo Dos Santos: Police watchdog rules out investigating armed stop of Portuguese sprinter

The police watchdog has ruled out an investigation into an incident where Black sprinter Ricardo Dos Santos was pulled over by seven armed officers.

The 27-year-old Portuguese sprinter was stopped in west London earlier in August, when the Metropolitan Police said officers thought he may have been using his mobile phone while driving.

The 400-metre runner posted dashcam clips of the incident on Twitter the same day, accusing the force of over-policing due to the presence of numerous armed officers. He then lodged a formal complaint against the force.

Scotland Yard said it had made a voluntary referral to the Independent Office for Police Conduct, which has now decided against opening an investigation into the stop. It has returned the complaint to the Met to investigate.

A spokesman for the force said the investigation will be led by the Directorate of Professional Standards and that Mr Dos Santos has been informed.

According to the Met, officers clearly indicated for the car to pull over but it failed to do so and they called for further assistance.

Mr Dos Santos said he did not stop straight away because he wanted to pull up somewhere “safe”, “well-lit” and where there would be “people around”.

Once he stopped the car - around five minutes later according to the force - officers spoke to him about why they wanted to stop the vehicle.

Mr Dos Santos said he was able to prove he had not been using his phone while driving. “Let’s put this matter to bed,” he said he was told before being allowed to go on his way.

The sprinter said he had been holding his fingers to his face, and officers mistook this for him making a call.

Speaking on BBC Breakfast last week, the athlete also suggested he has recently changed to an electric “family car” from a BMW in an attempt to avoid being profiled.

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 said the officers’ behaviour changed when they realised he had a camera in his car, but did not specify how.

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He said he would like police to “be aware of how people actually feel” when conducting searches.

The incident on 14 August was not the first time Mr Dos Santos has been pulled over by the police.

The athlete and his partner, Bianca Williams, a Team GB athlete, were previously stopped while driving with their baby in west London, two years ago, during an incident that they claim was based on “racial profiling”.

An acting police sergeant and four police constables are all facing gross misconduct disciplinary hearings over the incident, which saw the couple handcuffed and details of their baby stored on a police database.

In the latest stop, Mr Dos Santos’ footage showed a police car stopping in front of him and flashing its blue lights, after which he drove around the vehicle and pulled up some minutes later.

A second clip showed a police officer running up to Mr Dos Santos’s car door and drawing his baton, apparently preparing to smash the window.

An IOPC spokesperson said: “Having assessed a referral from the MPS of a complaint relating to a vehicle stop in Orsett Terrace, west London, on August 14, we notified the MPS last week that the matter does not require investigation by the IOPC.

“We have sent it back to the force to carry out its own investigation. We also advised that should its investigation identify any conduct matters, then the matter should be re-referred. The complainant has now been advised of our decision.”