NORTH MIAMI, Fla. – The attorney of an autistic 26-year-old man, who witnessed his caretaker being shot last year by a North Miami police officer, said he is pleased that the officer was arrested.
Jonathon Aledda was released from jail Wednesday night on bail.
The North Miami police officer is charged with attempted manslaughter and culpable negligence, stemming from the controversial shooting of behavioral therapist Charles Kinsey in front of Arnaldo Rios.
"In this indictment, we really found that the state cares," Rios' attorney, Matthew Dietz, said. "The state is doing what they can to get my client justice and his family justice."
Kinsey was walking with Rios on July 18, 2016, when officers responded to the area about a man possibly walking around with a gun.
File: Jonathon Aledda Arrest Warrant
"I don't know if it's a gun, but he had something that was shaped like a gun," the caller said.
The object turned out to be a toy truck that Rios was holding, a fact that Kinsey tried to tell officers.
"All he has is a toy truck, a toy truck," Kinsey can be heard telling officers in cellphone video of the incident.
Aledda told the Police Benevolent Association that he was aiming for Rios.
An arrest warrant said he fired his rifle from 152 feet away, although a fellow officer on the radio said that Rios was not holding a gun.
Police said Kinsey was shot in the leg and Dietz said his client is traumatized from witnessing it.
"He's currently in a large behavior institutionalized setting up in Central Florida," Dietz said.
Kinsey's attorney declined to comment on the arrest, citing an ongoing civil lawsuit against Aledda.