FILE – In this July 28, 2016, file photo, healthcare professional Charles Kinsey, shot by a North Miami police officer on July 18, 2016, while trying to protect an autistic patient, makes his first public appearance in Aventura, Fla. A Florida police officer has been found guilty of culpable negligence for shooting at a severely autistic man and wounding the man’s caretaker. News outlets report North Miami police Officer Jonathan Aledda was found not guilty Monday, June 17, 2019 of attempted manslaughter. A passerby reported a possibly armed man, and police soon surrounded Arnaldo Rios Soto and caretaker Kinsey. (Carl Juste/Miami Herald via AP, File)
MIAMI (AP) — A Florida police officer has been found guilty of culpable negligence for shooting at a severely autistic man and wounding the man’s caretaker.
News outlets report North Miami police Officer Jonathan Aledda was found not guilty Monday of attempted manslaughter. Arnaldo Rios Soto fled his group home in 2016 with a shiny silver toy truck. A passerby reported a possibly armed man, and police soon surrounded Soto and caretaker Charles Kinsey.
Aledda says he thought Soto’s toy was a gun and Kinsey was being held hostage. Aledda then fired his rifle at Soto, striking Kinsey while he lay in the street and begged police not to shoot. Officers testified radio communication clarified the toy wasn’t a gun.
Aledda’s initial trial was declared a mistrial. Kinsey is suing the city.
