Numerous Civil Cases Were Prelude To Alleged "I'll Show You Crazy" Knife Wielding Freak Out By Shirlynn LaChapelle...

Facebook photo, used under First Amendment Fair Comment and Criticism, blog post by John Hoff; see note regarding this photo at end of blog post

A couple days ago, this blog brought readers exclusive info about the purported "knife-wielding freak out" of prominent citizen Shirlynn LaChapelle, who has been involved in such noteworthy Neighborhood projects as the (defunct) Northside Marketing Task Force, tornado recovery fundraising, and sitting on the advisory board of the Neighborhood Hub to name just a few. In the background of the story of the bizarre (alleged) incident is a strange "house of mirrors" of civil cases. Where on earth does this mirror lined rabbit hole lead? And how far do I dare to follow it?

One odd aspect of the "freak out" story is....



....how LaChapelle is such a prominent person, and describes herself as a Realtor, and yet the criminal complaint shows her living with a son and daughter-in-law who, obviously, aren't getting along with Shirlynn very well. Doing a little digging brings up some interesting civil cases which have familiar echos.

River View Homes, for example. Isn't that where Larry Maxwell used to live? JADT Development Group LLC. Where have I heard that name before? Oh, yes, it was a civil suit that spun out of the Larry Maxwell case, click here.

Shirlynn has a long history with Minnesota courts on the civil side, but a relatively short history on the criminal side. Besides a speeding ticket (like this blogger is in any position to TALK) she has a conviction back in 1996 for disorderly conduct. An assault charge was dismissed. This may be relatively minor, but it appears Shirlynn has used up her "get out of jail free" card already and now faces a new assault charge.

As far as civil cases in the courts, where to begin?

She wasn't doing too well in 1997 and 1999, when (if it's the same Shirlynn LaChapelle) she was sued by Professional Credit Analysts of Minnesota and City County Federal Credit Union. Like many old cases on the public portion of MNCIS, there isn't a lot of information except some dates and names. LaChapelle's residence on the first case shows up as "Osseo."

There was a long hiatus in court activity until 2003, when Shirlynn LaChapelle started "dishing it out" as a plaintiff against Carl Harcus, Ian Harcus, and Rita Marie Harcus. There are two more cases with "Harcus" names in the same time period. This seems to involve an eviction.

LaChapelle also filed about a dozen other eviction actions. This would be fairly routine for somebody involved in landlording or, for that matter, possibly in flipping houses. The last eviction case she filed was in 2010.

In 2005, LaChapelle was named along with MORE THAN FIFTY other defendants in a case filed by State Mechanical Inc., which was 27-CV-05-012798. Familiar names among the defendants included Timothy O. Baylor, ("Tim Baylor") Doris P. Baylor,  Franklin National Bank of Minneapolis, JADT Development Group LLC, Lisa D. Larkins, (that name comes up later) Riverview Homes LLC, Eduardo D. Trinidad, and TCF Bank. The case is old enough that little information shows up in MNCIS.

In 2006 there was another case naming LaChapelle as defendant, but I should note right off the bat it was dismissed with prejudice, which translated to layman means, "Don't file this crap again." The plaintiff was Viki Radden and the two other defendants were Matt Baker and Burnet Realty d/b/a Coldwell Banker Burnet.

In 2008, Shirlynn M. LaChapelle was sued by Capitol One Bank. (The case is odd because "Jr." is listed after LaChapelle's name and, well, I've never seen that with a female name before) LaChapelle lost the case and owes a judgment of $4,514.81. The status as of today is "active" on the judgment.

In 2009 Lisa Larkins (there's that name again) sued LaChapelle but the case was dismissed four months after it was filed.

In a case filed March 8, 2010, only a month before the dismissal of "Larkins v. LaChapelle," Larkins filed another lawsuit against LaChapelle, Timothy Baylor, Burnet Realty Inc d/b/a Coldwell Banker Burnet, JADT Development Group LLC, and River View Homes LLC. The lawsuit didn't get anywhere and, in fact, the plaintiff ended up owing $1,278.10. (The plaintiff paid the judgment) What had Larkins so worked up that she filed this lawsuit? The answer is somewhere in that old case file.

In 2010, LaChapelle was sued by Accounts Receivable Services LLC d/b/a Reliance Recoveries. There was an order for judgment. LaChapelle's address was showing as North Minneapolis during this period of time.

In 2011, St. Paul Heart Clinic (in Sauk Centre) sued LaChapelle, whose address was listed as Osseo, Minnesota. The case was dismissed.

In 2012, River View Homes / Townhomes Owers' Association filed two lawsuits against LaChapelle during a short period of time. The lawsuits appear closely related and it may be they are the same case progressing from conciliation court to "regular" court. The later case resulted in a judgment against LaChapelle for $1,561, which is still showing as active and unpaid. The judgment was on August 20 of this year which really wasn't that long ago.

If all these cases are the same Shirlynn LaChapelle (it's not a very common name and this is all in the metro and its suburbs) then it appears LaChapelle had control of a property empire (she was evicting about a dozen different people, after all) but that empire seems to have slipped from her grasp; like a knife that gets all buttery, and then the handle is slippery, and how are you going to SLICE something with a knife like that?

And finally we come to the high point or the low point of the drama. Living with relatives and getting freaky (allegedly) with a knife after a perceived insult, reportedly.