Officers Present at Fatal Beating of Robert Brooks Had Past Complaints Filed in Court

Three officers who the New York State Attorney General’s Office claims were present when Robert Brooks was beaten are named in other lawsuits alleging brutal beatings at the hands of prison guards.

In documents reviewed by TMZ … Nicholas Anzalone, Glenn Trombly and Anthony Farina — all three suspended pending further investigation by New York’s Department of Corrections and Community Supervision Commissioner — are named as defendants in lawsuits filed by incarcerated or formally incarcerated individuals.

In a lawsuit filed in September 2022, a man named Adam Bauer sued Anzalone along with several other correctional officers … after he claimed he suffered an unprovoked beating by one for smoking a cigarette in a bathroom in 2020.

Bauer claims he submitted to a search after he was caught with the contraband … but, when he turned his back, the officer allegedly hit him multiple times.

After the initial encounter, the lawsuit alleges several officers — including Anzalone — came in and either kicked him or stood by and watched their colleagues do so.

Later on, while he says officers took him to a local hospital, Bauer says Anzalone “kicked his feet.” Bauer claims the men involved covered up the incident by telling a series of lies to hospital staff.

Sergeant Glenn Trombly has been sued on two occasions — including once for a 2020 incident where a man named Caleb Bause claimed a guard used pepper spray on him unprovoked.

Bause says he ran to the dorm area, but was ordered by the officer into a vestibule … and, when several other correctional officers arrived, Bause claims he told them he’d been assaulted by Bause.

Among those officers were Trombly and Farina … who Bause claims at the very least looked on while he was beaten — though he’s not sure if they actually participated in attacking him.

The third lawsuit — and second one involving Trombly — was filed in 2018 by a man named Equarn White in the United States Southern District of New York. It is handwritten by White.

White claims that back in 2015 — before Trombly moved up to Marcy Correctional Facility where Robert Brooks was an inmate — White was incarcerated at Green Haven Correctional Facility in Stormville, NY where Trombly worked.

According to White, Trombly and several other officers also beat him up in an empty classroom … with White claiming Trombly held him down while another officer repeatedly stomped on his testicles.

As you know … video showing officers repeatedly hitting, choking and kicking Robert Brooks was released yesterday. One person who had their body cam on during the incident was Glenn Trombly — who appeared to stand by and watch the vicious attack.