Angela Sangro married Albert O'Toole in 2019. She called it the happiest day of her life.
Albert was a Gulf War Marine who came home from combat with a traumatic brain injury after an explosion. Years later, Alzheimer's followed. She made the heartbreaking decision to place him in a care facility when she couldn't do it alone anymore.
She thought he'd be safe.
But Angela noticed Albert seemed heavily sedated during her visits. He was agitated. And he had bruises she couldn't explain.
She did what any loving spouse would do. She set up a hidden camera in his room.
What she saw on that footage is hard to watch.
This is a disgrace.
A Gulf War Marine veteran named Albert O’Toole who served this country, took a blast that left him with TBI, and was later diagnosed with Alzheimer’s was beaten by his aide Matthew Cox inside the New York State Veterans Home in Montrose, New York.
His wife… pic.twitter.com/rDmEU9F4P0
— John “TIG” Tiegen (@TigTiegen) June 21, 2026
The video shows an aide yanking food out of Albert's hands, grabbing him by the neck, throwing him into a chair, punching him, and striking him in the head with a broom while he cried out in pain.
The aide's name is Matthew Cox.
Cox was arrested in April and charged with grabbing the victim by the neck, forcefully restraining him, and striking him inside the state-run home. New York's Health Department fired him.
Good. That's the right call. Here's where it goes wrong.
Even after Cox was arrested and fired from the state facility, he still had a job with the federal VA. Still on the payroll. Still collecting a check.
The VA quietly moved him out of patient care, but kept him employed while the legal case played out.
If you or I got arrested for felony assault at work, we'd be cleaning out our desk that same afternoon. But a federal government employee? Let's just wait and see how it plays out in court.
Benghazi veteran John “TIG” Tiegen had seen enough. He posted about the case on social media, named the people in charge, and demanded action. His post racked up over 1.7 million views. Shortly after, the VA moved.
VA Secretary Doug Collins announced he's launching removal proceedings against Cox. He noted that the state-run facility operates independently under the New York Department of Health, separate from the federal VA, but Cox's continued federal employment after a felony arrest is still a problem the VA owns.
Angela Sangro said she was relieved when she heard the news, telling reporters, “Thank God – it should have happened a long time ago.”
The Montrose state veterans home had racked up more than 47 complaints and 25 citations for abuse-related failures between 2021 and 2025, and was hit with more than $29,000 in Medicare fines in April 2025 after inspectors cited failures to prevent and report alleged abuse.
This wasn't a one-time lapse. It was a pattern.
Here in Nevada, we've got thousands of veterans across the state, many at the VA Southern Nevada Healthcare System in Las Vegas.
The men and women who've served our country deserve better than a bureaucratic system that's slower to fire a proven abuser than it is to cut a veteran's benefits.
Some will argue the federal government can't just fire someone without due process. That's true.
But there's a difference between “due process” and “collecting a paycheck for months after camera footage shows you beating a man with a broom.
Angela Sangro says she can't sleep anymore. She watches the camera footage at night just to make sure no one's hurting Albert.
That's what it's come to for Angela. Sleepless nights standing watch so her country doesn't fail her husband twice.
The VA's job is to take care of the people who took care of us. When they fall short, the least they can do is move fast once the whole world is watching.
Albert O'Toole survived a blast in the Gulf War. He deserved to live out his days in peace, dignity, and safety.
A hidden camera and a viral post shouldn't have been what it took to make that happen.
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