Police Shootings / Possible Abuse Threads [merged]

When Staff Sgt. Buck Aldridge fatally shot Leonard Cure during a roadside struggle after pulling him over for speeding, it wasn’t the first time a traffic stop involving the Camden County sheriff’s deputy had spiraled into violence.

Last year, Aldridge dragged a driver from a car that crashed after fleeing the deputy on Interstate 95. Body and dash camera video obtained by The Associated Press show the driver on his back as Aldridge punches him. Records indicate the deputy faced no disciplinary action.

Personnel records show Aldridge was fired in August 2017 by a police department in the same Georgia county after he threw a woman to the ground and handcuffed her during a traffic stop. The Camden County Sheriff’s Office hired him nine months later.

Aldridge stopped Cure for speeding Oct. 16 and ended up shocking the 53-year-old Black man with a Taser after he refused to put his hands behind him to be cuffed. Body and dash camera videos show Cure fought back and had a hand at the deputy’s throat when Aldridge shot him point-blank.



Relatives have said Cure likely resisted because of psychological trauma from spending 16 years imprisoned in Florida for an armed robbery he didn’t commit. Officials exonerated and freed him in 2020.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation is investigating Cure’s death and will submit its findings to prosecutors. Aldridge’s attorney said the video shows he fired in self-defense. Critics question whether he should have been wearing a badge at all, given his history of aggression.

“This guy should have never been on the force,” said Timothy Bessent Sr., president of Camden County’s NAACP chapter.…..

https://apnews.com/article/a59c5ec381f11da36e9f6288d98fd6cd