Local developer and community activist Chris Cote, 46, was
severely beaten in his home, neighbors said. He was flown to a San
Jose hospital where he underwent surgery for head trauma, police
said. He was listed in serious but stable condition Wednesday, said
Victoria Emmons, vice president of public affairs and marketing at
the San Jose hospital.
the neighborhood and house where Cot
&
amp;#233 lives.
Local developer and community activist Chris Cote, 46, was severely beaten in his home, neighbors said. He was flown to a San Jose hospital where he underwent surgery for head trauma, police said. He was listed in serious but stable condition Wednesday, said Victoria Emmons, vice president of public affairs and marketing at the San Jose hospital.
The incident occurred shortly before 2:15 a.m. June 10, 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. Gilroy police, sheriff’s deputies and California Highway Patrol officers arrived on the scene shortly thereafter, but police said they could not locate the assailants.
Police said there were other people in the house at the time of the attack, but none of them were injured. Police said 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. 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.
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, helping 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 thousands of dollars, when on two separate occasions his former bus company failed to provide buses for class trips despite being paid, according to court records. Cote owed GUSD money after his now-defunct transportation service company, Cote Distribution Systems Inc., twice did not show up for district functions in 1988. Cote eventually paid the district nearly $8,000, settling the lawsuit.
Joe Thompson, a Gilroy attorney who litigated for five clients in the lawsuit during the late ’80s and early ’90s, said Cote paid his clients 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.
Wednesday, a black cast iron fence and thick bramble surround Cote’s brown wooden house perched atop a hill off Welburn Avenue in northwest Gilroy. Police tape wrapped around the property Tuesday, neighbors said, but Wednesday 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 Wednesday. 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.
In a neighborhood where the biggest problems include teens pulling pranks and driving too fast down a hill, neighbors were alarmed when a line of emergency vehicles clogged Welburn early Tuesday morning.
“I’ve never seen so many cop cars all at one time,” said neighbor Wendy Stroh, who was awakened by the flashing lights and ruckus taking place outside her window.
Police, who did not know the number of attackers or the weapons used, are waiting for Cote to recover to interview him fully. Police spoke briefly with the victim following his surgery and are actively investigating this case, Sgt. Jim Gillio said.
Police originally misstated in a press release Tuesday morning that the crime took place on the 1500 block of Mantelli Drive. When contacted, police confirmed the home invasion occurred on the 1500 block of Welburn.
Parties with information may contact Detective Stan Devlin at 846-0350.
More on this developing story will be posted as updates become available.
