Leggett Robbery and Attempted Murder Accomplice Is a Former San Francisco 49er

Gregory Mark Cox, the accomplice in last week’s alleged bungled robbery of a Leggett residence turned into attempted murder, once played for both the New York Giants and the San Francisco 49ers. 

We have learned that after an unsubstantiated rape charge ended his NFL career Cox has a documented trail of alleged criminal exploits over the last two decades the most recent of which happened in Mendocino County. 

Authorities allege Cox stood with a woman by the name of Amanda Chapman last Friday, May 10, 2024, while she pulled a gun on a Leggett homeowner that they intended to rob. When the homeowner grabbed the weapon to try and take it from her, she pulled the trigger and shot him in the hand. The duo were later arrested in Willits after authorities tracked them to a downtown residence the following morning. 

Cox was born on January 6, 1965, in Niagara Falls, New York. He moved to Columbus, Ohio, and attended Walnut Ridge High School. He told a reporter that he “messed around in high school” leaving him unable to attend a four-year college. Instead, Cox took a bus cross-country to Salinas, California where he enrolled in Hartnell Junior College. Two years later he was at San Jose State playing ball and earning a reputation as a “hard hitter” and the panther tattoo on his right calf.

In 1988, Cox had graduated from San Jose State and was looked over as a draft pick but joined the NFL as a free agent managing to scrounge an entry-level contract with the 1988 San Francisco 49ers as their safety. An interview with Cox from August 1988 that appeared in The Peninsula Times Tribune paints a picture of a rookie trying to make a name for himself in the big leagues. 

The 1988-89 season Cox might have been the crowning era of his football career when the 49ers won Super Bowl XXIII defeating the Bengals 20-16 earning the rookie free agent his one and only Super Bowl ring.

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The following season Cox returned to the state of his birth to play for the New York Giants but only stayed one year. Cox and Giants Coach Bill Parcell had tension specifically about Cox’s habit of being barefoot. Stats show he was rostered for 16 games that season and completed the one documented sack of his professional career.

The Sacramento Bee’s Jim Jenkins wrote an article entitled “49ers’ Cox is versatile in a quiet, odd way” in December 1990 interviewing Cox, coaches, and teammates about the return of the free agent safety from his year with the Giants. 

49ers special teams coach Lynn Styles described Cox as a “ He’s a Dr. Jekyl Mr. Hyde Type” saying “Greg may not verbalize much, but on the football field he’s all action.”

Matt Millen, a 49er linebacker, told Jenkins, “What you see is what you get with him. We all project images. Greg’s got this little pigtail in his hair and he walks around barefooted, but so what, as long as he performs on the field.” 

He would spend the entirety of the 1990 season with the 49ers and find his contract waived in November 1991 just hours before the Monterey County District Attorney charged him with rape and false imprisonment charges. The 49ers told the press at the time dropping Cox was “a football decision period.”

Monterey County prosecutors alleged Cox repeatedly raped a 22-year-old cocktail waitress in a Carmel Valley apartment in September 1991. After a night of bar hopping, the victim alleged Cox offered her a ride home but took her to an apartment. She alleged Cox struck her when she complained and proceeded to rape her in a bedroom when they arrived. It was also claimed Cox raped her the following morning. 

A Monterey County jury would acquit Cox of all charges associated with the woman’s claims. Cox took the stand during his trial where a Monterey County District Attorney “acknowledged there had been some inconsistencies in the trial testimony and said the acquaintance aspect of the case made prosecuting it more difficult.”

The District Attorney went on to say, “This kind of case is always hard to prove, where you have acquaintance rape instead of a victim dragged into the bushes by a stranger.”

In March 2008, Cox was arrested with an accomplice by the Vallejo Police after they fled from a home they were robbing. A man alerted law enforcement a robbery was in progress reporting one suspect had tried to push him down. The man told authorities he then struck one of the suspects in the head as they fled the home. The suspects were tracked to a residence where police arrested then-43-year-old Greg Cox along with 41-year-old Martin Woodruff.

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In June 2016, a federal grand jury indicted then-51-year-old Cox with being a felon in possession of a firearm, unlawful possession of a short-barrel shotgun, and unlawful possession of a short-barrel rifle. Court documents stated, “Cox, a convicted felon, was found in possession of a Norinco Model 99 12-gauge shotgun, a Savage Arms Stevens Model 940E 12-gauge shotgun with a shortened 13-inch barrel, and a Surplus Ammo and Arms Model LOW15 .223-caliber M4 assault rifle, with a shortened 10-inch barrel and a flash suppressor.”

A search for Gregory Mark Cox in the Mendocino County Superior Court Portal turns up only one prior documented criminal offense in Mendocino County, a speeding ticket in March of this year.

The Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office Booking Logs indicate he has been booked for two charges: felony conspiracy and felony attempted second-degree robbery. His bail was set at $75,000 and just yesterday afternoon it looks like he was bonded out and released from custody at 4:41 p.m. A criminal complaint should be filed by the District Attorney in the coming days.

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