YouTuber Carmine Stones was grabbed from his e-bike by plain-clothes police officers wearing tracksuits in Manchester, who then realized who he was. The 21-year-old, from Oldham, initially thought he was being robbed by a group of thugs before the officers identified themselves and produced their warrant cards.
Incident details
The incident occurred around three months ago on a canal near Manchester Piccadilly. Footage recorded on Carmine's GoPro shows him pleading, "Wait, please stop. Stop, please." The officers immediately announced they were police, and Carmine repeatedly demanded to see their warrant cards.
One officer explained, "We stopped you because of your electric bike, okay?" After Carmine said its assisted speed is capped at 15.5mph, one of the officers appeared to recognize him. The officers then revealed they were targeting suspected drug dealing and knifepoint robberies involving e-bikes.
Police response
Having inspected the bike, the officers confirmed it was road-legal and apologized for the extreme nature of the stop. One officer said, "Sorry to scare you like that, mate. I know it's a bit extreme." They commended Carmine for wearing a helmet and urged him to stay vigilant due to the number of e-bikes reportedly being stolen in the area.
Carmine, who produces videos about bicycles and local news for his @Kurrgas social media channels, said: "I didn't notice them until they grabbed me and pulled me off my bike. It definitely scared me because, at first, I thought I was being attacked by a group of thugs. It was mainly because of the way they were dressed and the number of officers involved. Once they started speaking, though, it became clear they were police officers."
Aftermath
Carmine said the officers produced their warrant cards straight away and professionally explained the reason for the stop. He said: "At the time it was frightening and made me feel uncomfortable. Afterwards, I could laugh about it because it had all been recorded, but it did make me nervous about riding along canals for a while. I was mainly shocked at first, but also relieved that they weren't taking my bike."
Despite his ordeal, Carmine said he backs police carrying out proactive operations against weapons and criminal activity. He added: "Considering the recent issues with knife crime, I support proactive policing like this. Although I wouldn't want to experience being stopped like that again, I understand why they were carrying out the operation."
Greater Manchester Police said: "Officers working in the Harpurhey area as part of an operation to tackle nuisance and anti-social e-bikes conducted a stop of a man to ensure the bike complied with road regulations. The officers identified themselves as they did so, before they ensured the bike was fit and legal to be on the road. The bike was deemed to be in compliance with the relevant laws and the man was free to leave shortly after." The force confirmed that e-bikes are amongst the most commonly reported antisocial behaviour complaints it receives, and added that officers deploy a variety of tactics to tackle the problem, including the use of covert and plain-clothes teams.
The footage attracted millions of views and sparked debate amongst viewers. One viewer joked: "Bruh, I would not have stopped. I probably would've ended up going in the water." Another praised the officers, writing: "They are actually good officers." JD Sports' official account also joked: "Blue Light Card got rinsed for this operation."
