SACRAMENTO, CA – A federal lawsuit filed by a Turkish immigrant alleges that he was subjected to a racially motivated and unlawful traffic stop while working as an Uber driver. The man, Abdulkadir Bulgaz, is a legal California resident and is being represented by attorney Antonio K. Kizzie, according to The Sacramento Bee.
The lawsuit comes amid ongoing nationwide immigration enforcement actions under President Donald Trump’s administration, which have fueled tension and increased discrimination against immigrants regardless of citizenship status.
According to The Bee, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem recently pledged that immigration raids would continue, following actions that sparked protests and legal challenges in cities including Los Angeles.
Bulgaz is suing the City of San Diego, the officer who stopped him, and other city employees on 12 causes of action, including violations of his constitutional rights, The Bee reported.
The incident occurred on December 30. Attorney Kizzie described the stop as “very traumatizing” for Bulgaz. The lawsuit, first published by KGTV and cited by The Bee, states that the defendants will be named once their identities are confirmed.
Dashcam footage reviewed by The Bee allegedly shows a San Diego police officer harassing and degrading Bulgaz, ultimately seizing his driver’s license without justification. The footage captures the officer telling Bulgaz, “Don’t be an idiot and stop in the middle of the lane.”
From his cruiser, the officer shouts at Bulgaz to “pull to the right,” a scene described in the civil rights complaint filed May 15 in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California.
The interaction escalates as the officer uses a slur historically directed at individuals with intellectual disabilities, asking, “Are you ‘retarded’?” When Bulgaz replies, “Sorry?” the officer continues: “Are you stupid? Are you stupid?” and then, “Are you dumb?” according to the footage.
Bulgaz reportedly attempted to explain that he spoke only Turkish, not English. The officer interrupts and shouts, “Why the (expletive) would you stop in the middle of the lane?” before demanding Bulgaz’s license.
At one point, the officer asks, “Are you an Uber driver?… You’re a terrible driver.” He then says, “You’re not driving anymore. I’m taking your license from you,” according to the video cited by The Bee.
The lawsuit alleges the officer used a translation app on his phone to say “(expletive) Turkish driver,” and threatened Bulgaz’s job with Uber.
The officer then forcefully confiscated Bulgaz’s driver’s license, forcing him to drive home without it and leaving him unable to work for over a week, the lawsuit claims. Bulgaz, who relied on Uber, Lyft, and other delivery services for income, was unable to earn money until he recovered his license from the DMV.
“The officer, for no reason, seized (Bulgaz’s) driver’s license for, at worst, a potential minor traffic infraction, then threatened, ‘You’ll never drive Uber again,’” Kizzie told the TV station, according to The Bee.
Kizzie also told McClatchy News that, in addition to being without his license for more than a week, Bulgaz faced no further consequences. “He was not even given a citation to appear in court for the infraction, which is highly unusual,” he noted.
In a June 12 response to McClatchy News, San Diego Police Sgt. Ariel Savage said the department “does not comment on pending/active lawsuits against the department or its members.” The city attorney’s office also declined to comment due to ongoing litigation.
The lawsuit argues that Bulgaz was pulled over “without reasonable suspicion” and was racially profiled. The verbal abuse, it states, is part of a larger pattern of discrimination by the San Diego Police Department.
“This is a disturbing incident of a police officer using their badge to bully and intimidate rather than to protect and serve,” Kizzie said, according to The Bee.
The complaint further alleges that the officer—who was white—along with the department, “unreasonably and unlawfully seized, detained, and arrested (Bulgaz) and many others because of their immigrant status, age, race, ancestry, national origin, citizenship, and/or primary language.”
Data from the San Diego Police Department, covering 666,406 traffic stops between 2019 and 2023, shows a disproportionate number of stops involving Black and Hispanic drivers compared to white drivers, KNSD reported in June 2024, as cited by The Bee.
Bulgaz’s lawsuit accuses the city of maintaining “an unlawful custom, policy, and/or practice of seizing immigrants’ and non-English speakers’ driver’s licenses and identification documents without due process,” especially for minor offenses. He is seeking a jury trial and unspecified damages.
Kizzie told McClatchy News he hopes the case will bring “justice for Mr. Bulgaz and accountability for the officer involved,” The Sacramento Bee reported.
