Pa. Police Kill Man Barred From Cousin's Home

July 10, 2013
The man was killed confrontation with police in Sewickley who were responding to an intruder alarm.

An Oklahoma man died early Tuesday in a confrontation with police in Sewickley who were responding to an intruder alarm.

Robert Brooks, 27, of Poteau, Okla., sometimes stayed at the home in the 300 block of Thorn Street where the fatal encounter took place, but a protection-from-abuse order prohibited him from returning.

On Monday night, he returned about 9:35 and tripped the burglar alarm, police told the Allegheny County medical examiner's office.

Sgt. Brooks, a member of the Army National Guard, was pronounced dead at Sewickley Valley Hospital at 12:14 a.m. today.

Police from neighboring departments and the Allegheny County police department also assisted in the burglary call.

Allegheny County police superintendent Charles Moffatt said Sgt. Brooks moved from a small town near Winchester, Okla., into the Sewickley home of his cousin Chad Brooks, 44, who for a time served as his guardian, and his cousin's wife, Sarah Brooks, 42.

When he graduated from high school, he enlisted in the Army.

He was discharged in 2011 and moved back into the Brooks home.

In 2012, police said, Mr. Brooks moved out of the house while the sergeant and Ms. Brooks continued to live there.

Over time, a pattern emerged in which Sgt. Brooks would verbally and physically abuse Ms. Brooks, police said.

First Mr. Brooks obtained a PFA against the sergeant, then Ms. Brooks did.

Ms. Brooks awoke about 3 a.m. Monday but, thinking Sgt. Brooks was still in jail, did not worry too much, police said.

Then she spotted him on the steps.

Superintendent Moffatt said Ms. Brooks spoke with Sgt. Brooks for about an hour before she convinced him to go for a walk, thinking she could escape. When she tried to run, he tackled her and beat her.

Police said the two went inside and talked until Ms. Brooks again convinced him to take a walk outside.

She tried to run and he tackled her again, but this time a passing driver spotted them, began calling for help and honked the horn and flashed the lights.

Police took Ms. Brooks to reset her house alarm and then to a hotel where she could more safely stay. About 9:30 p.m., she received a call from the alarm company saying someone had broken in.

Police from Sewickley and from the Allegheny County police department found Sgt. Brooks lying in a propped up bed and -- unsure if he was armed -- used a Taser on him when he refused to come down.

Sgt. Brooks pulled out the barbs.

Then, he struggled with an officer who had a rifle strapped across his back, trying to point the gun toward officers, the superintendent said.

Five or six officers from the Allegheny County and Sewickley police departments were in the room at the time.

Several fired shots -- at least four of which hit Sgt. Brooks.

Superintendent Moffatt said it is not yet clear which officer fired the fatal shot.

As per protocol, the officers have been placed on paid administrative leave during the investigation, the superintendent said.

Court records describe a complicated love triangle involving Sgt. Brooks, Mr. Brooks and his cousin's wife.

Mr. and Ms. Brooks are separated and in the process of finalizing a divorce.

Ms. Brooks, who lives at the Thorn Street home with her three children, obtained a temporary protection-from-abuse order against Sgt. Brooks on June 24. On the application, she checked a box describing Sgt. Brooks as her "current or former sexual or intimate partner" and wrote that he had threatened to kill her, Chad Brooks and police.

She declined comment this morning.

A three-year protection-from-abuse order was approved Monday.

It was not the first time someone had accused Sgt. Brooks of threatening the family.

Mr. Brooks filed a protection-from-abuse order against Sgt. Brooks in January, stating that his cousin sent him an e-mail saying he had contacted people he met when he was an Army Ranger and "All of your history and information is available to me to pursue this to the extreme. I will pursue justice through your demise."

Sewickley police confiscated an assault rifle and a semiautomatic handgun from Sgt. Brooks after the PFA was filed against him.

Last week, they filed criminal charges against the sergeant for threatening Mr. and Ms. Brooks. The two shared text messages and voicemails with Sewickley Sgt. David Mazza that Sgt. Brooks had sent them in February, about a month after obtaining a temporary protection-from-abuse order against him.

According to a criminal complaint, Sgt. Brooks sent them the following messages, among others:

--"If I'm going to go out I will take you guys out with me."

--"Either you force me or I do what I have to do."

--"There is only one way out and that is combat and that's what I'm pushing for."

--"If you don't get by now that you are with me or against me then may the Devil have mercy on your soul because I will show none."

The couple told police Sgt. Brooks "plans to go down in a blaze of glory and wants to commit suicide by cop," according to the complaint.

A judge ordered him to undergo a psychiatric evaluation at the jail's behavior clinic before he was released the next day on $500 bail that he posted himself.

Mr. Brooks said: "We're extremely grateful for the police and the fact that none of them are hurt. We're sorry that they had a part of this."

In a telephone interview, he declined today to talk about the Monday night incident or about the family dynamics because he wanted to respect the family's privacy.

"I think it's all out there and it is what it is," he said. "It's unfortunate and I'm just glad it's at its end and no one else got hurt."

Copyright 2013 - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

McClatchy-Tribune News Service

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