Buck William Aldridge, the sergeant with the Camden County Sheriff’s Office accused of turning a routine traffic stop in 2023 into a deadly altercation that killed 53-year-old Leonard Cure, has been indicted on civil rights violations by a federal grand jury.
Just three years before he was killed, Cure, a client of the Innocence Project of Florida, was exonerated and released from prison after being incarcerated for 16 years.
“The traffic stop did not have to end in Lenny’s death,” Seth Miller, executive director of the Innocence Project of Florida, said in a statement days after Cure’s death.
“We believe the officer’s aggressive behavior toward Lenny, and his placing Lenny under arrest, triggered a response you would expect from someone who spent 16 years in prison for a crime he did not commit.”
Aldridge, who is white, pulled over Cure, who is Black, on suspicion of speeding on Interstate 95 in Camden County on Oct. 16, 2023, and asked him to step out of his vehicle. The interaction escalated when Aldridge tased Cure, which turned into a physical struggle between the two men.
Aldrige then drew his gun and shot Cure.
In the 13-count indictment, Aldrige is charged with deprivation of rights under color of law and falsifying records charges for his actions during and after the traffic stop.
The charges were announced Thursday by Tara M. Lyons, acting U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Georgia, and Paul Brown, special agent in charge of the FBI Atlanta Field Office.
“Law enforcement officers are entrusted with the authority to uphold the law — not to break it. When that trust is violated, the FBI will act. No badge puts anyone above the Constitution,” Brown said in a statement.
The indictment alleges that Aldridge also used excessive force during four separate arrests and later prepared multiple false reports to justify that force.
Aldridge could face a maximum 10 years in prison for each federal civil rights violation, and 20 years in prison for each false report, according to U.S. sentencing guidelines.
In February, Keith Higgins, district attorney for the Brunswick Judicial Circuit, declined to press charges against Aldridge for the shooting, telling the Associated Press that deadly force was “objectively reasonable.”
Last year, attorney Ben Crump and Cure’s family filed a $16 million federal lawsuit against Aldridge and former Camden County Sheriff Jim Proctor for their alleged roles in Cure’s death.
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