Moment Olympic sprinter Ricardo Dos Santos pleads ‘what did I do?’ as police scream at him to ‘get out the car’ and handcuff him in front of his son
- Body-worn camera shows Met Police officers swarming sprinter’s Mercedes
This is the moment Olympic sprinter Ricardo Dos Santos pleads ‘what did I do?’ as police officers swarm him and scream ‘get out of the car’ in front of his baby son.
Body-worn camera footage, released by the IOPC, shows five Metropolitan Police officers surround his Mercedes near his home while his partner and Team GB athlete Bianaca Williams and their then three-month-old baby boy sit in the car.
One can be seen raising his police-issued baton above his shoulder and shouting at the international sprinter to ‘get out’ while a female officer frantically screams ‘there’s a baby in the car’. Mr Dos Santos exits the car and, clearly looking distressed and confused, backs away and pleads ‘what did I do?’.
Two Scotland Yard officers grab hold of his top before pulling his arms behind his back and handcuffing him as the sprinter shouts ‘my kid’s in the car, bro’ before he screams out in pain.
Mr Dos Santos, 28, repeatedly asks throughout the seven-minute footage why he has been detained and followed to which officers allege he was ‘trying to evade them’ and then claim ‘they can smell weed in the car’.
Metropolitan Police officers grab hold of Ricardo Dos Santos’ top and pull his arms behind his back and handcuff him
The sprinter laughs and replies: ‘Do you know who I am? You can smell cannabis? Are you dumb?’
READ MORE: Sprinter Ricardo Dos Santos ‘feared for the safety’ of his partner GB athlete Bianca Williams when police searched and handcuffed them in front of their young son, tribunal hears
The distressing encounter took place on July 4, 2020, after the couple drove back to their West London home from training.
At one point the sprinter, who competed for Portugal in the 400m sprint at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, tells officers he is bleeding to which they say it has been caused ‘by his actions’.
‘You guys were following me for no reason,’ Mr Dos Santos says. ‘I knew you were following me, for what reason? Look at that, I’m bleeding.’
‘You guys are so funny, I’m an athlete. Look at my other car, bro. Check my plates. That one and that one.’
An officer then carries out a search on suspicion of him having drugs. Nothing was found.
Towards the end of the footage Mr Dos Santos accuses officers of being racists and says he his taking every single of their names.
‘You are all racist p*****,’ he says. ‘You are racists, all you lot are racists, racist guys racist feds, racist police officers. Hurry up. I live here. I live right here. What are you lot doing? For what reason? There’s nothing here, bro.
Mr Dos Santos constantly pleads with officers ‘what did I do?’ throughout the footage as they allege he ‘tried to evade them’ and then claim they can ‘smell weed’
At one stage Mr Dos Santos tells officers ‘he is bleeding’ but an officer says it has been ’caused by your actions’
Team GB athlete Bianca Williams (left) and her Portuguese partner Mr Dos Santos (right) were detained by the Met Police in west London with their son (centre) in the backseat
‘You guys are wasting your time.’
The footage was shown at a disciplinary hearing in south east London yesterday and has now been released by the IOPC.
READ MORE: Ricardo Dos Santos vows to take legal action against the Met Police after he was pulled over by ‘seven’ armed officers
He and Ms Williams, 29, a gold medallist in the 4x100m relays at the 2018 European and Commonwealth Games, were handcuffed and searched on suspicion of having drugs and weapons, after they pulled over outside their property.
Mr Dos Santos said he was not trying to ‘evade’ the police or driving dangerously, and that he was ‘just trying to get home’ so that his son could reach safety, while taking questions from Nick Yeo, representing Pc Allan Casey, who was driving the police vehicle.
Mr Dos Santos told the hearing on Wednesday that the ‘traumatic’ experience had affected his performance on the track.
PC Casey, Acting Sergeant (A/PS) Rachel Simpson, PC Jonathan Clapham, PC Michael Bond and PC Sam Franks deny all charges.
Mr Dos Santos, who often looked distressed throughout the hearing, told the panel: ‘I didn’t want anything to happen to my family and I wanted to get home.
‘I realised that the police carrier was following me and I hadn’t done anything wrong.
‘I was afraid for the safety of Bianca and my son.’
The sprinter ‘feared’ for the safety of his partner and Team GB athlete Bianca Williams when police handcuffed them in front of their baby boy, a police misconduct hearing heard
Ms Williams (pictured) was handcuffed for 18 minutes while her partner Mr Dos Santos was handcuffed for 45 minutes
Ms Williams won a Gold medal for Team GB in the 4x100m relays at the 2018 European and Commonwealth Games
When asked why he should be afraid of the police, Mr Dos Santos said he had ‘traumatic experiences’ as a young black person who had been stopped by the police on ‘multiple occasions’ in the past.
READ MORE: Dashcam footage shows policeman ‘grabbing Portuguese sprinter Ricardo Dos Santos before letting go when he realises he is being recorded’ during stop and search
He added: ‘At that present moment my focus was the safety of Bianca and my son.
‘I wanted to get home so they (the police) could see my other vehicles and know I wasn’t evading them.’
When shown body-worn footage which recorded him mocking and swearing at the officers, he accepted his behaviour, saying: ‘Everybody deals with trauma differently.
‘I laugh, sometimes I shake. I’m shaking now. I can only speak for myself and my partner – it affected her so much she had to leave the media.
‘She doesn’t do media appearances any more. It has affected my performance on the track. I shouldn’t be here.’
Mr Dos Santos said that his language was justified because the officers came up to his car and attempted to smash the window within seconds.
At one point, addressing the officers who were in the room directly, he said: ‘Within a matter of seconds, you had a glass cutter and batons raised – if you come and try to smash the glass we can’t conversate.’
The five officers all face allegations that they breached police standards over equality and diversity during the stop-and-search.
A/PS Simpson and Pcs Clapham, Bond and Franks also face allegations that their actions amounted to a breach of professional behaviour standards in relation to the use of force.
They are said to have failed in relation to their levels of authority, respect and courtesy, as well as in their duties and responsibilities.
PC Casey is also accused of breaching professional standards in the way he carried out his duties and responsibilities or gave orders and instructions.
It is also alleged that the honesty and integrity of PCs Casey, Clapham, Bond and Franks breached professional behaviour standards.
Ms Williams is expected to give evidence at the six-week hearing today.
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