St. Joseph Man Charged After Allegedly Shaking a Baby

(KNSI) — A 41-year-old St. Joseph man is jailed after allegedly being caught on a nanny cam shaking a six-month-old baby.

According to the criminal complaint, a woman contacted Stearns County Social Services on March 7th after she received the video via social media that contained information about the home where it happened and the that there were drugs at the home. The video appeared to show Nicholas Reinert grabbing the child, letting his head fall toward the floor and then holding him upside down by his ankles. Another video allegedly showed Reinert putting the baby in a bouncy chair and “violently shook the bouncer up and down.” An X-ray and CT scan were performed, and the child did not suffer any signs of traumatic injury.

The complaint continues saying police went to the house owned by Reinert’s mother and questioned both her and the child’s mother, who said Reinert stayed there but said he wasn’t home. Reinert’s mother was not cooperative with the investigation, and the child’s mother initially refused to give police a statement.

On March 8th, police returned to the home to execute a search warrant and said they found a shotgun lying on a table. Reinert is not allowed to own or possess any guns or ammunition due to previous felony convictions. Court papers say officers cleared the house with a K9, and Reinert’s basement bedroom door was heavily barricaded and could not be opened. Officers broke a window and used a drone to see what was happening inside. They deployed pepper balls into the room and repeatedly gave commands for Reinert to come out, which they say he ignored. Police then broke down the bedroom door, which was secured with a 2X4 from the inside and found a handgun in the bedroom. A K9 was deployed into the room and found Reinert hiding behind a makeshift wooden door under the stairs. They again asked him to come out, which he did not. The K9 was deployed into the closet and initially couldn’t get in, but eventually broke through the door and partially pulled Reinert out of his hiding spot.

Reinert was arrested and taken to the hospital for treatment. He allegedly admitted he had used methamphetamine and marijuana earlier in the day. In a sworn statement, he told police he passed out while hiding because he had been up for a couple of days and denied watching the baby alone. After viewing the video, he said it happened “a while ago,” and he was “just playing around.” He said he goofs with the child but never intentionally tries to hurt him. He also said he may have been high at the time and made statements about owning and possessing the guns found around the house.

Aside from the shotgun and handgun that were initially found, investigators say they also discovered A black .50 caliber Wolf muzzleloader, a .50 caliber Thompson Center Arms muzzleloader, a Remington 870 Mag 12-gauge pump-action shotgun, a Coast to Coast Master-Mag model CC660 12-gauge shotgun, a double-barrel 12-gauge shotgun, a black Savage AXIS .308 bolt-action rifle, a Ruger 10-22, and ammunition all over the house.

Unconditional bail was set at $200,000. Reinert is due back in court March 24th.

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