Athlete Ricardo Dos Santos pulled over by police for second time

Sky News
Updated ·2 min read

An athlete who was allegedly racially profiled during a stop and search has said he was pulled over for a second time by seven armed police officers while driving home in London.

Portuguese sprinter Ricardo Dos Santos published a series of tweets and video footage of him being pulled over and questioned by police.

Mr Dos Santos said officers believed he was on his phone when they stopped him, and claimed one took his baton out of his pocket "out of frustration ready to smash the glass" after not knowing how to open the car door.

He said "nothing had changed" in the two years since he was pulled over with his partner, British sprinter Bianca Williams, and their daughter.

The Metropolitan Police has recorded the incident as a public complaint and referred it to the police watchdog.

Mr Dos Santos said in a series of tweets: "Not surprised I had to go through this again... Annoyed that 2 years down, nothing has changed."

He later said he had only shared part of the footage on social media as the rest was with his lawyer.

In July 2020, footage of Mr Dos Santos and Ms Williams 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 Independent Office for Police Conduct, the police watchdog, said an acting police sergeant and four police constables will all face a gross misconduct disciplinary hearing over the incident.

In response to the incident on Saturday, the Met confirmed the stop took place as they were "concerned the driver may be using a mobile phone at the wheel".

The force said: "We are aware of footage on social media showing part of a stop on a car."

Car 'failed to pull over' - police

It continued: "At about 04.00hours on Sunday, 14 August, armed officers were on routine patrol in a marked police vehicle.

"They saw a car... and were concerned the driver may be using a mobile phone at the wheel.

"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... 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."

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