Information regarding local developer and community activist
Chris Cote, 46, who was severely beaten by an unknown number of men
who broke into his northwest Gilroy home early Tuesday morning, is
being kept under wraps.
the neighborhood and house where Cot
&
amp;#233 lives.
Information regarding local developer and community activist Chris Cote, 46, who was severely beaten by an unknown number of men who broke into his northwest Gilroy home early Tuesday morning, is being kept under wraps.
Victoria Emmons, a spokeswoman for a San Jose area hospital, declined to give Cote’s condition or confirm whether he was still a patient. As of Wednesday, he was recovering from serious injuries and was in serious but stable condition after undergoing surgery for head trauma, police said.
The incident occurred shortly before 2:15 a.m. Tuesday, when an unknown number of men broke into the home on the 1500 block of Welburn Avenue and hit the victim repeatedly with blunt objects, police said. The assailants remain at large.
There were other people in the house at the time of the attack, but none of them were injured, police said. However, they did not know how many people were in the house or what relation they had to the victim.
There was no indication that the crime was gang-related or racially motivated, and police said they did not know whether the victim knew his attackers. Police have not yet identified a motive as of Thursday, Sgt. Jim Gillio said, but would not release that information even if they had. In addition, police did not know whether the suspects took anything from the house. However, police said that the assailants used force to break into the home.
Although Gillio didn’t know if Cote had returned home Thursday, a neighbor said that he had not seen any sign of Cote.
A black cast iron fence and thick bramble surround Cote’s brown wooden house perched atop a hill off Welburn Avenue. Police tape wrapped around the property Tuesday, neighbors said, but Thursday all that remained were two rubber-banded Financial Times laying in the driveway, a testament to the vacant house. No broken windows or smashed-in doors were visible from outside the gate Thursday. The 6-foot tall fence shrinks into the hill behind the house, which could allow a trespasser a way around, but pine trees and brush prevented a clear view of the home’s rear.
A prominent member of the Gilroy community, Cote wears many hats. He has served on the Santa Clara County Democratic Central Committee and the seven-person advisory council for CALSTAR, a nonprofit air ambulance.
His parallel life in politics has involved advocacy on education and environmental issues, as well as waging a controversial campaign against the Gilroy Chamber of Commerce in an effort to end its political endorsement activities. His name has cropped up in a number of forums, including his own “Gilroy American Patriot,” an occasional newsletter on community and environmental issues. He ran the Hollings Cartaway Hunger Relief Foundation, a for-profit entity he presented as a nonprofit that allegedly helped rural communities in Africa learn how to better sustain agriculture and prevent disease. He has crusaded against a 75-foot communications tower in a northwest Gilroy neighborhood and antennae atop two flagpoles outside of Luigi Aprea Elementary School, and in 2003, the “green” developer asked school district officials to do more to improve air quality inside school buses, which is often worse than it is outside, he said. He also helped form a committee to promote recycling and environmental awareness throughout the school district.
But in 1989, Cote cheated the school district out of several thousand dollars, when on two separate occasions his former bus company failed to provide busses for class trips despite being paid, according to court records. Cote eventually paid the district nearly $8,000, settling the lawsuit, and more than $30,000 in damages, interest and legal fees.
Cote is currently facing litigation brought on by his alleged neglect to pay general contractor Al V., Inc. more than $1 million in fees for a 10-unit subdivision in Gilroy called Hanna Square, said the plaintiff’s attorney, Daniel DeVries. Earlier this year, Cote stopped paying the bill for construction, DeVries said. Construction continued and the units stand finished but uninhabited.
Police spoke briefly with Cote following his surgery and are now waiting for him to recover to interview him again.
Parties with information may contact Detective Stan Devlin at 846-0350.
More on this developing story will be posted as updates become available.
