The Georgia deputy who killed a black man who had already served more than 16 years in prison for a wrongful robbery conviction was fired from the police department for using excessive force during a traffic stop, according to reports.
Camden County Sheriff’s Deputy Buck Aldridge has been identified by News4JAX as the officer who killed Leonard Cure, 53, during a heated standoff after police pulled him over for speeding Monday.
The harrowing footage shows him playing and shooting Cure, who has been out of prison for three and a half years following his release.
Aldridge was previously fired by the Kingsland Police Department in August 2017 for violating the use of force policy during a traffic stop by slamming a woman to the ground, the report said.
“I saw a police officer who was too aggressive to initiate it,” an officer who was at the scene said of Aldridge, according to the outlet, which cited an internal investigation.
“He had no business picking it up and throwing it on the ground.”
Georgia Deputy Buck Aldridge, who fatally shot Leonard Cure, who was released after serving 16 years in prison, was fired in 2017 for using excessive force, according to reports.Camden County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Buck Aldridge
Aldridge, who joined the Kingsland force in 2012 as a peace officer, reportedly faced other disciplinary problems before being fired.
A performance review in 2013 said he needed improvement in his judgment and decision-making — and the review said, “Calm, calm, collected,” News4JAX reported.
In 2014, he also received a warning for unnecessary force during a traffic stop, according to the outlet.
During his five years with the department, he reportedly completed 618 hours of training including de-escalation techniques, use of deadly force, traffic stops and more.
The Camden County Sheriff’s Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment earlier Friday about Aldridge being hired after being previously fired.
Police dash cam video shows Leonard Cure fighting with the deputy.Camden County Sheriff’s Office Deputy initially used his Taser on Cure but the driver continued to fight the officer.Camden County Sheriff’s Office Deputy then shot Cure at close range.Camden County Sheriff’s Office
Meanwhile, Cure’s mother said she wants justice for her late son.
“I hate Georgia!” Mary Cure said in Florida, WSB-TV reported. “Sorry, but this is my son. And I want justice for him.
“I don’t know what’s going on out there but I can tell you this – there was nothing so bad that he deserved to die,” he added before he looked at the video of the police shooting and what caused it.
Cure said her son had just left Florida after visiting her over the weekend – and she video chatted with him as he drove back to the Atlanta area.
“Then he said, ‘I love you and I’ll see you soon.’ That was the last I heard from him,” he said.
Cure told Rasul that his son had been psychologically injured during his years in prison.
“I would say if you spend a lot of time in prison, it will be difficult. I don’t care who you are,” he told the outlet.
Leonard Cure, 53, was shot and killed by a Georgia deputy during a traffic stop Monday.AP
Spending years in the slammer “for something you didn’t do, and all the things that happened to him while he was there, to go back into society and try to pick it up and move on, it’s going to be very difficult to do,” said Cure.
“He was completely disconnected,” she told the outlet.
Cure said her son didn’t want to seek therapy for his psychological problems because he felt there was a stigma attached to it and he didn’t want to be seen as “weak.”
In the fatal arrest video, Leonard is told he was pulled over for driving at 100 mph.
The deputy was seen ordering Cure out of his vehicle.
“I didn’t do s–t,” Cure replied as the deputy pulled out his Taser and pointed it at him.
Curator poses in the Florida Senate chamber in Tallahassee.via REUTERS
Cure asked the deputy what agency he worked for and if there was a warrant for his arrest. He refused to comply and said he would not go to jail.
The deputy finally tases Cure in the back but he goes towards the deputy and the two scramble.
Cure grabbed the policeman’s face and pushed his head back cursing, while the officer hit him with a baton before shooting him, the video shows.
Aldridge, who picked up medical equipment, was later seen crying as he was surrounded by fellow officers. Meanwhile, paramedics provided first aid to the seriously injured driver.
Civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who is now representing the family, said he also believes Cure’s prison years because of something he didn’t do affected his psychology.
“When the officer said, ‘I’m going to arrest you and take you to jail,’ he was triggered,” Crump said, WSB-TV reported.
Mary Cure holds a framed picture of her slain son, Leonard Cure.AP
News4JAX showed the footage to criminologist Alex del Carmen, who said Aldridge’s history of use of force puts the fatal encounter into context.
“The sergeant thought that the suspect might not obey his verbal instructions and as a result he had to use force. I’m not sure that’s entirely true,” del Carmen told the outlet.
He questions why the deputy used his Taser when Cure had his back to him and raised his hand.
“From what you can see on the video, it doesn’t seem to me that it would be the type of call or the nature of the event that would require an officer to arrest a suspect,” del Carmen said.
Leonard in an undated family photo.Facebook/Innocence Project of Florida
“If the officer actually has a history, that he has used force in the past, and he has been disciplined in the past, to the point of being fired, then the police department has a very serious problem on their hands right now. ,” he added.
Cure, who was serving a life sentence after he was convicted in 2003 of the armed robbery of a Walgreens in Broward County, Fla., was paroled and released in 2020 through the work of the Innocence Project of Florida.
The Broward State Attorney’s Office’s Criminal Conviction Review Unit found that Cure had a solid alibi — in the form of a time-stamped ATM receipt several miles away — when the robbery took place.
Cure recently bought a house in Palmetto, Ga., with part of the $817,000 he received from the state of Florida this summer for his wrongful conviction and incarceration.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
