Hollister
– A handful of locals will soon be getting called to court for
their alleged participation in an anonymous neighborhood watch
group accused of harassing a Hollister homeowner because he is
Hispanic.
Hollister – A handful of locals will soon be getting called to court for their alleged participation in an anonymous neighborhood watch group accused of harassing a Hollister homeowner because he is Hispanic.
Charles Nunley, attorney for homeowner Arthur Amarillas, said his client is being targeted by residents of the affluent Oak Creek neighborhood because of his ethnicity. Amarillas filed a lawsuit against the Oak Creek Neighborhood Watch Committee in June, after he received a letter from the group threatening that they would report him to local, state and federal authorities if he didn’t remove a fence that he had erected around his property.
Since the suit was filed, Nunley has subpoenaed San Benito County Planning Department records to get the names of Oak Creek residents who had previously complained about possible code violations at his client’s home. Nunley said he believes the same people sent the threatening letter to Amarillas. Last week, Nunley amended his lawsuit to include previously unnamed defendants: Darrell Campolong, Greg Colla, Vicki Colla, Robert Anthony, Shirley Anthony, Michael Gallagher and Erika Gallagher. The seven Oak Creek residents had complained about Amarillas’ home to planning officials, Nunley said.
“They don’t have a lot room to argue,” Nunley said Thursday. “We’ll have to establish the association between those who complained about the property and those who sent the letter, but I don’t think it will be difficult.”
Michael Gallagher, the only defendant who could be reached for comment Thursday, denied being part of the anonymous neighborhood watch group. He said he and his wife were taken aback when they learned they were being sued.
“A neighbor carried a letter to me concerning code violations, so I signed it,” he said Thursday. “It sounded like something that should be addressed.”
Gallagher said he never authorized or signed any other letter threatening to contact police if the fence was not removed. Gallagher said the letter he signed was addressed to the County Planning Commission, not Amarillas.
Gallagher said he and his wife did not know Amarillas.
“I have no idea what happened. If there was another letter, I didn’t sign it,” he said. “I’ll never sign another homeowner’s letter again.”
Gallagher said Campolong had been walking his dog through the neighborhood and asked him to sign a letter to the County Planning Commission regarding suspected code violations.
According to Amarillas’ lawsuit, the Oak Creek Neighborhood Watch Committee, “engaged in a pattern of annoyance, harassment and intimidation,” which included, “watching (his) home … making false and inflammatory complaints to government agencies … and discharging firearms near his home.”
Amarillas moved into the home, which is located on the outskirts of the Oak Creek neighborhood, earlier this year, according to Nunley. A few weeks later, Amarillas received the offensive letter, Nunley said.
The letter, a copy of which was obtained by the Free Lance, states that the group would contact law enforcement officials with its suspicions that Amarillas was engaged in “illegal activity” and that “illegal immigrants” lived at the home. Sent, “anonymously from a group of 12 residents of Oak Creek,” the letter threatened that the district attorney, Hollister Police Department, San Benito County Sheriff’s Office, State Tax Board, Internal Revenue Service and state immigration officials would be contacted if Amarillas didn’t take down a black nylon fence he had put up on his property.
The group, according to the one-page letter, took issue with the fence because it “indicates you have something to hide which causes us great alarm that some type of illegal activity may be being conducted besides it generally being an eyesore.” The letter continued, stating that if the fence was taken down the group would “conceder (sic) that you are a good neighbor.” It warned, however, that if nothing was done about the fence the group would contact the authorities.
Nunley told the Free Lance that he believes his client’s ethnicity, rather than the fence, was the real motivation behind the group’s threatening letter.
Nunley said he believes the letter and constant surveillance have violated his client’s civil rights. If he can prove it in court, each person involved in sending the letter could have to pay Amarillas up to $25,000 in damages, according to the California Civil Code. Nunley said the case wasn’t about money, but about making sure his client’s civil rights were protected.
San Benito County Sheriff’s Lt. Roy Iler investigated Amarillas’ harassment complaints in April, but said sending the letter didn’t constitute a criminal threat.
Nunley said he was in the process of sending out subpoenas to the seven named defendants. The next step, he said, would be taking their sworn depositions to find out who was involved in sending the letter.
Brett Rowland covers public safety for the Free Lance. He can be reached at 831-637-5566 ext. 330 or br******@fr***********.com.
