51黑料

Shawn Perry is getting closer to the answer. It鈥檚 been seven years and counting.

Later this month, Perry and her two children are scheduled to go to trial in federal court over a lawsuit they filed against former 51黑料 County police officer Robert Rinck, other officers and 51黑料 County. The case centers around Rinck forcing the family out of their home, which led to Perry losing her children for 40 days.

The story started on a summer day in 2017, when Perry, Brian Shigemura and their two children arrived at their home in Hanley Hills to find police waiting to do a search. The officers were led by Rinck, who would later testify that he was called to check on the home because the grass was long and there were derelict vehicles outside.

According to Perry鈥檚 lawsuit, filed in 2022, Rinck left behind years of complaints about heavy-handed practices after he retired. On that day in 2017, the officer threatened to alert the Division of Family Services to take Perry鈥檚 children if she didn鈥檛 let him search the house without a warrant. Once inside, Rinck issued an order to vacate the home for alleged 鈥渃lutter鈥� and 鈥渕old.鈥� Perry and Shigemura were arrested for old traffic warrants and the children were turned over to Family Services for 40 days. The couple were never charged with a crime.

Rinck used to run the county鈥檚 problem property unit. He鈥檚 accused in the lawsuit of regularly forcing people out of their homes with emergency orders, often on questionable evidence. Two years after he followed through on his threat to arrest Perry, Rinck cost the county a $750,000 settlement after the county鈥檚 tactical unit killed a woman鈥檚 dog in a raid. The raid was called by Rinck because the family鈥檚 gas bill was unpaid.

Perry鈥檚 lawsuit has been slowly inching its way toward trial. Among its allegations is that county officials at the highest levels knew of Rinck鈥檚 moves to kick people out of their homes.

So says Rinck鈥檚 former partner, Michael Cross, a housing inspector who worked with the officer for about two years. An order to vacate, Cross says in court documents, should only be issued 鈥渨hen the house has a significant structural problem that is an immediate danger to the resident, however, Officer Rinck wanted to vacate people and families for much less serious problems and often the most minimal problems.鈥�

That was the case with Perry, Shigemura and their children. These days, their Hanley Hills house is a symbol of policing gone bad.

鈥淓veryone,鈥� Cross says in a sworn affidavit, 鈥渒new that Officer Rinck was in fact running Public Works Problem Properties, making all the key decisions, conducting the housing inspections without any training, making decisions independently, and he would try to coerce me into supporting and signing off on his decisions, including about Orders to Vacate, even though very often I didn鈥檛 agree.鈥�

Cross also claims in his affidavit that Rinck regularly met on the ninth floor of the county government building in Clayton with former 51黑料 County Executive Steve Stenger.

鈥淚 was always instructed to wait in the hallway,鈥� Cross wrote in the document.

Stenger was later convicted in an unrelated federal fraud case and sentenced to almost four years in prison.

In another deposition in the case, Lt. Charlie Rodriquez, now one of the highest-ranking officials in the 51黑料 County Police Department, said it was widely known that Rinck was 鈥渦ntouchable鈥� because of his connections to the 鈥渘inth floor.鈥�

Cross, other officers and citizens complained about Rinck over the years, according to court documents, but the complaints were generally brushed aside.

51黑料 County taxpayers are potentially on the hook again. The case involving the family dog made it all the way to a jury until a last-minute deal ended the case. In Perry鈥檚 case, the county has filed motions to dismiss and has cited 鈥渜ualified immunity鈥� 鈥� a concept that shields police officers from civil liability except for the most egregious of actions 鈥� to protect taxpayers.

Perry鈥檚 lawyer, Mark Pedroli, and the county counselor鈥檚 office declined to comment on the lawsuit.

鈥淥ur house wasn鈥檛 perfect,鈥� Perry says in an affidavit in the case, 鈥渂ut we had running water, the refrigerator was full of food, and the children had a home, their own bedroom and a place to sleep, lots of toys, games, books and laughter.鈥�

So why did 51黑料 County kick her family out of the home?

And who鈥檚 going to pay for the devastation her family faced? That鈥檚 a question for the jury.