Camden County Sheriff's Office Sgt. Buck Aldridge's police car video showing him stopping Leonard Cure for speeding in 2023 on Interstate 95 in Kingsland. Following a violent roadside scuffle, Aldridge shot him to death. | Camden County Sheriff's Office
Published on August 7, 2025 at 3:56 pm
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A Camden County sheriff’s sergeant has been indicted on 13 counts related to use of force in four arrests. He’s the same officer who ignited controversy after he shot and killed a man during a traffic stop in 2023.
A federal grand jury issued the indictments Thursday against Sgt. Buck Aldridge of St. Marys. The charges allege that Aldridge used excessive force during four arrests and prepared misleading reports on multiple occasions to justify his use of force.
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Camden County Sheriff Kevin Chaney said Aldridge was immediately relieved of his duties.
“The Camden County Sheriff’s Office is committed to transparency and accountability at every level,” the sheriff said in a news release. “Our duty is to serve the citizens of Camden County with integrity and professionalism.”
Aldridge faces up to 10 years in prison for each civil rights violation and 20 years for each false report, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
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The U.S. Attorneys Office did not respond to Jacksonville Today‘s questions about whether any of indictments are related to the fatal shooting of Leonard Cure during a traffic stop Oct. 16, 2023, on Interstate 95 in Kingsland.
Cure spent more than 16 years in prison for a 2003 robbery until he was exonerated based on finding of “actual innocence,” according to the Innocence Project of Florida. He was on his way to see his mother when Aldridge pulled him over on I-95 on suspicion of speeding and reckless driving.
The two wound up in a struggle, and Aldridge used his Taser on Cure before ultimately shooting him as they continued to fight.
Brunswick District Attorney Keith Higgins decided that Aldridge’s use of force was “objectively reasonable” in Cure’s death. But Cure’s family sued Aldridge, the Sheriff’s Office and former Sheriff Jim Proctor in early 2024.
Cure’s family will speak about the indictments at a news conference Friday in Brunswick, joined by civil rights attorney Ben Crump.
Records from the Georgia Peace Officer Standards & Training Council show the Kingsland Police Department fired Aldridge before the Sheriff’s Office hired him.
Those records show he violated policies on the use of necessary and appropriate force, stemming from an incident in which Aldridge tried to handcuff a woman without any warning as he waited for backup, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution said.
Aldridge then pushed her to the ground, and other officers involved in the incident stated that he was too aggressive, the records show.
