This time, Ricardo Dos Santos was prepared with video cameras to stop the police.
Ricardo Dos Santos has won the Portuguese championship six times. EPA / AOP
Portuguese 400m runner Ricardo Dos Santos was again stopped by the police in the UK. This time too, the commotion was not avoided.
Two years ago, he accused the police of racist targeting when the police stopped and handcuffed a man and his spouse without a proper reason. In addition, the couple’s three-month-old child was registered in the police database.
The police officers involved in the stop two years ago have received sanctions for gross abuse of their official position.
The Portuguese is a six-time champion of his country. In addition to 400 meters, he has also competed in 200 meters this season.
Now Dos Santos opened up on Twitter, how armed police officers had stopped him on suspicion of using a cell phone in a car. The runner thought the situation was overshooting, as he denied using the phone.
The police motioned Dos Santos to the side of the road, but the runner thought it was not safe to stop there. He continued driving five minutes ahead.
You can see the embed below as well from here. The story continues after immersion.
– I drove past the exit, so I decided that there was no other safe place to stop. The freeway overpass is a pretty dark place, so I took the next exit and stopped, Dos Santos told Radio 5.
– For my safety and the previous events, it was better to stop at a place that was lit and there would be eyewitnesses.
Dos Santos counted a total of seven armed police approaching his car. One of them took a stick from his pocket because he couldn’t open the door of the athlete’s Tesla. According to Dos Santos’ interpretation, he was already ready to break the window glass.
Video camera in Tesla
From previous experience, Dos Santos had installed video cameras in his Tesla as possible evidence. Now he published the obtained video material on his Twitter.
– Why were seven armed police officers needed to stop me when I was driving alone? I think two or three would have been enough, he wrote on Twitter.
According to a statement released by the police, the armed officers were on a routine patrol. Since the car did not stop immediately, they called in additional help to the situation. In the statement, it was said that the driver had been contacted on Twitter, if there is a desire to discuss the matter more, but the BBC according to Dos Santos, he has not received a direct message from the police. The matter has been left to his lawyer.
Dos Santos was finally able to continue his journey after a short conversation, but with the opening of Twitter, the agency that supervises the police’s activities in Britain has taken the case into consideration.