Oh, I see what you're saying - I thought it was just the opposite.
"... The Kirkwood officer who talked to Shawn in August 2003, Christopher Moss, was summoned to the neighborhood for a stolen-bike complaint. He was getting ready to leave when he was told of another stolen bike, according to Moss' report, obtained by the Post-Dispatch through a public-records request.
"I spoke with Shawn Devlin and his father Michael Devlin," Moss wrote. "Shawn said his bicycle had been left outside on the porch area around 10 p.m. on August 14, 2003, and was missing when he went outside on August 15, 2003, around 8:30 a.m." ..."
You know... if you think about the situation. You have a little boy being held by this man, threatened, told no one will believe him. Then, when the police, supposed protectors, show up, they don't recognize him, and they accept that this man is his father... might start believing those threats.