A Police Officer Has Been Charged Over A Filmed Stop And Search That Went Viral

    Joshua Savage of the Metropolitan police has been charged with four offences, including common assault and possession of a bladed article.

    A Metropolitan police officer has been charged in connection with footage that went viral last year appearing to show a driver's windscreen being smashed.

    PC Joshua Savage has been charged with common assault, possession of a bladed article, criminal damage, and threatening behaviour.

    He was charged following an investigation by the police watchdog, the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC), into a video filmed last September.

    In the widely shared footage, filmed from inside a car, a police officer smashes a car windscreen during a stop and search while his colleague looks on, before cutting into it with a bladed implement.

    The incident, which took place on Vicars Road, Camden, was referred to the IPCC after a complaint about police conduct by a member of the public.

    Savage is due before magistrates in Westminster on 20 April. The Met told BuzzFeed News he remained on restricted duties and that a separate misconduct review would take place when criminal proceedings had concluded.