The Camden County Sheriff’s Office deputy who shot and killed a suspect during a traffic stop last week was fired from his previous law enforcement position after a violent encounter with another suspect, according to documents obtained from the Georgia Peace Officer Standards and Training Council (POST).
On Oct. 16, Camden County Staff Sgt. Buck Aldridge shot and killed 53-year-old Leonard Allan Cure during a traffic stop at 7:30 a.m. on Interstate 95.
Video of the traffic stop was released by the sheriff’s office Oct. 18, and it shows Aldridge was aggressive at the beginning of the traffic and fired his Taser while Cure had his back turned away from the deputy. After the suspect was hit with the Taser, he attacked Aldridge. During the physical struggle, Aldridge hit Cure with a baton before shooting him.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigations (GBI) was asked by Camden County Sheriff Jim Proctor to investigate the incident. GBI said it would forward its findings to the Brunswick Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s Office. This is the 80th officer-involved shooting GBI has been requested to investigate in Georgia this year.
Proctor said Cure was “clocked at over 100 mph” on the interstate, which was why Aldridge initiated the traffic stop.
Cure served 16 years in prison and was later exonerated for a wrongful conviction of armed robbery in 2020.
“The Innocence Project of Florida mourns Lenny’s loss,” an Innocence Project of Florida news release said. “We will do all we can to support Lenny’s family and all who knew him and loved him.”
According to POST, Aldridge started as a peace officer with the sheriff’s office May 21, 2018, nearly nine months after he was fired by the Kingsland Police Department.
According to POST, Aldridge was fired by the police department Aug. 30, 2017, after he violated the department’s use of necessary and appropriate force and on/off duty conduct policies.
POSTs said Aldridge was assisting other officers with a traffic stop and was asked to detain a woman. The woman walked away from officers and sat in her, in which Aldridge then “detain(ed) her so she could not return to the vehicle during the investigation.” POST said Aldridge “took (the woman) to the ground and he placed handcuffs on her with the help of other law enforcement officers.”
The POST report says an internal investigation was started and officers were asked to respond to in-car and body camera footage of the incident.
“I see a police officer being way too aggressive to start with,” one officer said in the POST report. “There were three officers on the scene. He had no business picking her up and throwing her on the ground.”
Another officer said “it was a bit much” and thought the suspect was complying with Aldridge’s commands.
Kingsland police leadership agreed and fired Aldridge. The termination came after Aldridge had violated the police agency’s use of force policy on two other occasions – May 4, 2017 and Feb. 3, 2014. Aldridge was also written up by Kingsland police leaders for carrying an unauthorized weapon (Jan. 18, 2017) and following too closely (July 21, 2016).
According to the POST Data Report System, Aldridge has completed 464 hours of continued training. He last completed a two-hour course on de-escalation techniques on Feb. 20.