CAMDEN COUNTY, Ga. — The Camden County deputy who shot Leonard Cure to death on Interstate 95 Monday was fired from the Kingsland, Ga. Police Department in 2017.
Sgt. Buck Aldridge conducted a traffic stop, pulling Cure over on the side of the highway for speeding and reckless driving. He ended up fatally shooting Cure after a physical altercation ensued and the exchanged heat words.
Aldridge was hired by the City of Kingsland Police Department in Dec. 2012 as a police cadet and fired less than five years later for violating two agency policies: the Use of Necessary and Appropriate Force and On/Off Duty Conduct policies.
It's unclear what Aldridge's actions were, but the lieutenant who wrote the internal investigation report says "Ms. Wilson was being verbally passive resistant but however, did comply with Officer Aldridge's verbal command to exit the vehicle,"
He concluded, "the minimal level of force required at the time of this incident was officer presence and verbal persuasion."
First Coast News On Your Side obtained Aldridge's employee records from the Kingsland Police Department.
The agency's first disciplinary action against Aldridge was in Feb. 2014 when he was written up for violating department policy and using "unnecessary force on an individual during the course of a traffic stop to take the person into custody based on the belief that probable cause existed for a crime that was occurring," Aldridge's employment record states.
He was ordered by a supervisor to attend mandatory training on communication skill building and that he get re-training and counseling on properly conducting a traffic stop and probable cause for resisting arrest," the records state.
In his first employee evaluation, the supervisor advised him to "be clear, give location, and don't tunnel vision."
Aldridge was involved in a pursuit involving a motorcycle on I-95 in June 2016 with another officer. His superiors reprimanded him with a warning the next month and a reminder to "maintain a reasonable distance behind the suspect vehicle," the records state.
The driver of the motorcycle was forced to pull over in the emergency lane because of mechanical problems and the officers were driving so close they "made contact" with the motorcycle with their patrol cars.
In April 2017, Aldridge was placed on administrative leave for "alleged misconduct" though it's not clear what the misconduct was. After an internal investigation, the city manager suspended him without pay for three days and recommended a 12-month probationary period.
Four months later, he was terminated by the department, the records state.
Aldridge is currently on administrative leave from the Camden County Sheriff's Office.