Costco parking dispute leads to lawsuit over alleged police assault

A Costco parking space in San Diego is now the focus of a federal civil-rights case after Chu Ding, a 53-year-old Department of Homeland Security agent, said a plainclothes police sergeant blocked him from leaving, hurled a racial slur and slammed him to the ground outside the Carmel Mountain Road warehouse. The clash, captured on store security cameras, turned a routine lot dispute into a broader safety question for workers and managers who know how fast congestion at a busy warehouse can spill into the store’s operational space.

The lawsuit centers on San Diego police Sergeant Jonathan Ferraro, who was off duty and unarmed when the confrontation happened on July 2, 2024, in the Carmel Mountain Ranch area. Ding said he tapped Ferraro’s truck to signal he was leaving the space. Ferraro then got out, identified himself as a sergeant and allegedly called Ding a “Chinese piece of shit” before throwing him to the ground and knocking him unconscious. Ding said he suffered a fractured rib, a dislocated shoulder and a concussion.

What followed widened the case beyond the parking lot itself. Ding was handcuffed, taken to the hospital and later jailed on felony charges of obstructing or resisting an officer. The San Diego County District Attorney’s Office later declined to prosecute, leaving the arrest unresolved while Ding pursued claims that the officers on scene and the department mishandled the response. For Costco employees, especially front-end staff, asset-protection teams and warehouse managers trying to keep traffic moving, the case is a reminder that a crowded lot can become a scene requiring fast de-escalation, clear identification and disciplined security response before an argument becomes a use-of-force event.

The amended complaint also alleges a breakdown in 911 handling and police oversight. It says at least six 911 operators misidentified Ding as the offender, and that one operator and a supervisor stayed on the line offering emotional support to Ferraro’s wife, Jessica Ferraro. The complaint says a Priority 0 designation triggered an emergency response of 14 officers, including a lieutenant, sergeant, two detectives and a media relations spokesperson. It further alleges some officers turned off or muted body-worn cameras, took Ding to the Northeastern substation and pressured him to write an apology letter.

In May 2026, U.S. District Judge Anthony Battaglia denied qualified immunity to Ferraro and the other individual defendants, allowing Ding’s excessive-force, wrongful-detention and false-arrest claims to move forward. Ding also alleges the Department of Homeland Security cleared him of wrongdoing, and his attorney, Eugene Iredale, says no discipline has been imposed on Ferraro or the other officers involved. For a company built on high-volume traffic, tight operations and a workforce that depends on stable, orderly conditions, the case underscores how quickly a parking dispute can become a workplace-safety problem when security and law enforcement fail to contain it.