Tuesday 16 August 2022 09:31 AM Black sprinter Ricardo Dos Santos vows to take legal action against the Met trends now
A black sprinter today said he no longer felt safe driving in London and vowed to take legal action against the Met Police after he was pulled over by 'seven' armed officers - two years after a 'racially profiled' stop and search.
Ricardo Dos Santos, 27, was stopped by police on the A40 in west London in the early hours of Sunday when officers said they believed he was using his phone while driving.
He posted three clips of the stop on Twitter, including one of an officer withdrawing his extendable baton, and said seven armed police had stopped his £57,000 Tesla.
In 2020, he and his Team GB athlete girlfriend, Bianca Williams, were pulled over by the Met when they were travelling with their baby in Maida Vale.
In a series of TV interviews this morning, Mr Dos Santos said he believes the latest incident was a second example of racial profiling.
'If there's a reason for it, by all means, carry it on, but for suspecting someone to be on the phone… I think they saw me, a person of colour in the car, and it was, ''Let's see what he does'',' he told Good Morning Britain.
Ricardo Dos Santos, 27, was stopped by police on the A40 in west London in the early hours of Sunday when officers said they believed he was using his phone while driving
He posted three clips of the stop on Twitter , including one of an officer withdrawing his extendable baton, and said seven armed police had stopped his £57,000 Tesla
The athlete added that 'nothing had changed' two years after he was pulled over with his partner, Bianca Williams (pictured), and their child
Asked by host Rob Rinder if he would take further action, the athlete replied: 'We will.
'We've thought about it because we think it's more of a harassment thing now because it hasn't only happened once since 2020, this is now the second time I've been stopped since 2020 and the multiple times previously.
'For me, I'm very cautious of what I do and every time I see a police car, especially late at night. In the back of my mind I'm always thinking… ''Am I going to get stopped?'' and it's honestly very scary.'
Mr Dos Santos revealed he sold his previous cars to be 'less of a target'.
'I'm not putting myself in a position for them to stop me,' he said. 'I sold the previous cars I had to then get this one because I wanted to stand out a lot less, but again, it's not the car.
'I sold the BMW and the Mercedes that we had to get a Tesla, because it's a car that you see every day. It's not a car you'd associate with anything.'
When asked on BBC Breakfast 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
