NORTH MIAMI, Fla. – There was "one blemish" and "one mild deficit" in Officer Jonathon Aledda’s 2012 application paperwork with the North Miami Police Department.
That's what the department called it in a conditional offer of employment document.
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The "blemish" was that Aledda was arrested in July 2007 on a petty theft charge after he took sports cards valued at $158 from Target, the document said. Aledda attended a court-appointed course, paid a fine and had his records sealed and expunged.
By the time Aledda applied to North Miami in the spring of 2012, he had submitted 17 applications to various agencies around the country. The Orange County Sheriff’s Office said the "one blemish" was enough not to hire Aledda, the document said.
A psychological review by North Miami police cited "one mild deficit," which was a "lack of tolerance: possible characteristics include judgmental; argumentative; critical; challenging; confrontational; rigid; stubborn."
File: Jonathan Aledda Application for Employment
The review also showed that "no evidence of this 'lack of tolerance' was uncovered during this background investigation. To the contrary, many of the individuals that were contacted spoke of Mr. Aledda's ability to get along well with others."
He ended up receiving an "acceptable" suitability classification.
Of the four higher-ups charged with signing off of Aledda's background, one administrative commander declined to give him the green light to move forward and recommended that he be removed from the eligibility list.
Aledda shot an unarmed caregiver, Charles Kinsey, last month as he lay on the ground with his arms in the air. The man for whom he was caring, Arnaldo Rios, 26, sat by his feet during the incident.
In a video, Kinsey is heard telling officers, "All he has is a toy truck, a toy truck. I am a behavior therapist at a group home."
Aledda shot Kinsey once in the leg.
The Dade Police Benevolent Association president said Aledda was trying to protect Kinsey from Rios because he believed that Rios was armed.
Cmdr. Emile Hollant was suspended without pay for giving conflicting statements about the circumstances surrounding the controversial shooting of Kinsey.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is investigating the shooting.
Meanwhile, Aledda's application to the North Miami Police Department provides glimpses into his background.
File: North Miami Police Department Memorandum on Jonathon Aledda
In 2008, Aledda had applied to various agencies, with his first batch of applications going to the Drug Enforcement Administration, the U.S. Secret Service and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
The University of Miami graduate quit his job as a self-employed personal trainer the following year and moved to Tallahassee, where he earned a master’s degree in criminology from Florida State University.
Aledda picked up the job hunt again in 2010 and applied to various agencies.
Aledda's name was slated to be given to the chief at the Hollywood Police Department in 2012, and he had been selected to move forward with the hiring process at the Fort Lauderdale Police Department.
He failed a civil service test at the Orlando Police Department in 2010, and that same year, the Orange County Sheriff's Office declared that it wouldn't hire Aledda because of his previous arrest.
A detective in the sheriff’s office told North Miami police that Aledda "was not processed due to the fact that he had an arrest for petit theft three years prior to his 2010 application."
Aledda's hiring documents show that someone in the North Miami Police Department contacted the sheriff’s office about the decision not to hire him. A sheriff's detective said Aledda admitted that he'd stolen a pack of sports cards from Target.
"He stated that he'd just recovered from abdominal surgery and went to Target with his mother to prepare for his senior year at the University of Miami," the document said. "He stated he saw the large box of cards, which had been opened, and he placed some single cards into the box."
Aledda attempted to leave the store without paying for the cards and was stopped before he got out the door, the document said.
"He realized that he cannot go back and change what happened, but he can use the experience as a learning tool for his life," the document said. "He further stated that his actions were 'totally out of character' for him."
Other than that incident, Aledda's criminal history was clean. He didn't have a traffic citation on his record.
"Mr. Aledda spoke from his heart and was very sincere in discussing this incident," the document said about the theft. "He was remorseful and embarrassed about his actions on that day, and he stated that he was grateful for an opportunity to explain the arrest."
References for Aledda described him as personable and well-liked. Under the recommendation portion of the document, Aledda is described as "personable, polite and articulate."
A friend of Aledda's said in an interview with the department that Aledda can "absolutely" be trusted with confidential matters and the friend had never observed any bias or prejudice toward others.
"Jon comes from a diverse background and would never have bias or prejudice associated with his character," the friend said.
The document said that since Aledda never pleaded guilty to the crime, didn't have a criminal trial and had also passed other checks by the department, he was recommended to proceed to the next phase in hiring and was shortly afterward hired by the North Miami Police Department.