Uber driver files OIRPD complaint over ‘aggressive’ LPS officer

A London Uber driver has filed a complaint with the Office of the Independent Police Review Director over an interaction with a London police officer.

The driver, Shane De Souza, says he was delivering for Uber Eats in the early morning hours of Oct. 12, when he came upon a car crash at the intersection of Highbury Avenue and Hamilton Road.

Police had not arrived at the scene yet, he says, so he called 911 and flagged the intersection for Uber so other drivers could avoid the area.

About two hours later, De Souza says he was directed to pick up an order at the McDonald’s near the same intersection. To get there, he says he took care to avoid the Highbury-Hamilton intersection, confirmed by his GPS log from Uber which he shared with CTV News.

After picking up the order, De Souza says he turned north on Highbury, and was confronted by police.

“You trying to get arrested?” he says they asked him, aggressively.

Confused, De Souza says he told them he was trying to complete his delivery.

In a video of the interaction shared with CTV News, De Souza is heard asking for a name or badge number from an unseen officer. That officer is heard saying, “you’re gonna get yourself charged in two seconds here.”

In the video, the officer is heard saying De Souza drove around a barrier and through the collision scene, which De Souza’s GPS log refutes.

The officer threatened to arrest De Souza multiple times, and only provided a badge number after repeated requests to identify themselves, says De Souza.

He believes the officer mistook him for another driver who may have gone through the collision scene earlier.Shane De Souza’s Uber log showing his route to the McDonald’s avoiding the crash intersection. (Courtesy: Shane De Souza)

Mistaken identity or not, the threats of arrest shook him up, says De Souza.

“That was the first time in my life, as silly as it sounds, that I ever realized I was Black,” he says.

“That’s actually a sentiment I’ve hear from a lot of different clients,” says Piera Savage, a Toronto lawyer with the Black Legal Action Centre, a non-profit providing free legal services to Black Ontarians who need them.

“It can be very devastating for people to have that initial experience and be treated unfairly because of their race,” Savage says.

At no point in the video shared with CTV News does the officer use racist language, but De Souza believes another driver would have been treated differently under the circumstances.

“If I was a little old white lady,” he says, “would I not have gotten help? Would they have not said ‘excuse me, excuse me. You’re going the wrong way. Please back up. There’s an accident over here and we need to direct you this way.’”

After providing their badge number, the officer directed De Souza to go back into the parking lot and exit onto Hamilton Road, he says. He was not arrested or charged.

London Police confirm a complaint was filed over an incident from Oct. 12, but did not comment further, nor identify the officer when provided the badge number mentioned in the video shared with CTV.

The OIPRD also declined comment, citing privacy legislation.