The Independent Officer for Police Conduct (IOPC) has confirmed that it will not be investigating the officers who stopped Ricardo Dos Santos on Sunday, 14th August.
Santos was stopped in his Tesla on the A40 in west London early on Sunday morning.
He shared some partial footage of the stop on his Twitter account that was recorded by the in-car cameras in his Tesla.
In a statement released by MPS Westminster shortly after the partial footage of the stop was shared on social media, a spokesperson for the BCU said:
‘We are aware of footage on social media showing part of a stop on a car.
‘‘At about 04:00 hours on Sunday 14th August, armed officers were on routine patrol in a marked police vehicle.
‘They saw a car travelling eastbound on the A40 Westway 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 in Orsett Terrace W2, 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.’
Earlier today, the IOPC confirmed that they would not be investigating the officers who carried out the stop.
In a tweet, a spokesperson for the IOPC said:
‘Having assessed the information provided to us, we have decided this matter doesn’t require an independent IOPC investigation.
‘We returned this back to @metpoliceuk last week to carry out its own investigation, and the complainant has now been informed.’
In the footage shared online by Santos, it appears to show him at one point overtaking a marked police BMW X5 that was trying to get him to stop.
In a series of tweets published after the stop, Santos wrote:
‘Not surprised I had to go through this again. Whilst driving home last night 7 armed Met Police officers stopped me because they thought I was on my phone whilst driving.
‘At their request, I pulled over when safe to do so.
‘After I stopped, two officers ran towards either side of the car, one fist clenched banged on my window and tried opening the car door. Not knowing how to use a Tesla handle he took out his baton out of frustration ready to smash the glass.
‘‘Annoyed that two years down, nothing has changed, but they still manage to over police.. why do seven armed officers need to be present when I was alone? 2 or 3 max would of [sic] been enough.’
Ken Marsh, Chairman of the Metropolitan Police Federation, released a statement in which he said that his colleagues had ‘nothing to hide’ following the stop.
In a statement released shortly after the stop, Mr Marsh said:
“I’ve been a big supporter of releasing body-worn video across the board. It should be available in the same way the public do against us.
“We’ve got nothing to hide at all. If officers did, they shouldn’t be in the job.”
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