Individuals featured in 'Reckless Ben' Lego videos file lawsuit against American Fork officers

SALT LAKE CITY — Four people featured in Ben Schneider's viral videos about Utah-based Bricks and Minifigs filed a civil rights lawsuit against American Fork and 13 officers on Wednesday, alleging constitutional violations.

They said they were "detained, searched, handcuffed, arrested and interrogated," but never charged or committed.

In the lawsuit, the four claim their First and Fourth Amendment rights were violated because American Fork staffed inexperienced officers, did not train them about constitutional limits to traffic stops, phone seizures or warrants, and did not enforce its own policies.

Solomon Radner, the lead attorney, said in a statement that the Utah District Court lawsuit has over a dozen specific constitutional violations supported by evidence.

"We are not anti-police, but we are anti-police corruption, and pro-accountability, because constitutional rights only mean something if they apply equally to everyone, including the officers who swore an oath to uphold them," he said.

Events that led to the lawsuit

The three Utahns and one man from Illinois agreed to help Schneider, known on YouTube as "Reckless Ben," in his attempt to get a Star Wars Lego collection returned to the Mansell family, who claimed they had entered a consignment agreement at an Oregon Bricks and Minifigs franchise location that had not been honored. The process led to viral videos spreading across multiple social media channels, a defamation lawsuit filed by Bricks and Minifigs against Schneider and the family, and closure of the Oregon franchise.

Eventually, the Mansell family settled with Bricks and Minifigs for an undisclosed amount, but agreed they have since been compensated for their losses.

Joshua Johnson, of American Fork, was the owner of the Oregon franchise at the time the videos were made, and took over from the franchise owners who made the agreement with the Mansell family. The individuals involved in the lawsuit were each outside his home in March, leading to some of the interactions with American Fork Police highlighted in the lawsuit.

At one point, body camera footage that was originally kept private from the interactions was accidentally released publicly on the American Fork Police Department's Dropbox by an evidence technician.

The interactions went viral and led to online criticism in the department, comments about concerns in city council meetings, and a protest.

Attorneys claim in the lawsuit that the four individuals "tried to serve court papers, drove a car, filmed, raised money on GoFundMe, and hung a sign on a neighbor's fence with the neighbor's permission. That is lawful, constitutionally protected activity."

Schneider was charged with stalking, a class A misdemeanor, and targeted residential picketing, a class B misdemeanor, and is scheduled for a preliminary hearing on December 16.

Prolonged stops

Tyler Shaw, of American Fork, was allegedly stopped on March 8 near Johnson's home for a stop-sign violation, but the lawsuit claims American Fork Chief of Police Cameron Paul later admitted the violation did not happen.

When police pulled him over, they immediately asked about Schneider, who was in the back seat.

At that point, Shaw was held for about 15 to 20 minutes, but later that day, he was stopped while driving in that area again and the lawsuit said he was held for almost two hours and put through field sobriety tests. The lawsuit said that at that stop, the officer did not tell him why he was stopped or address a traffic issue but instead started the interaction by asking, "Why are we harassing people?"

The lawsuit alleges the officer knew the claim that Shaw's eyes were glossy was false. It quotes the officer in charge of the incident, who said, "I was gonna scare him a little bit and let him go," and said that is not a legitimate reason to stop someone.

Sierra Lauts is from Utah and tried to help Schneider serve Johnson with an Oregon lawsuit on March 10. The lawsuit said she was never on Johnson's property and remained in her car on the street. Johnson reported to police that a woman with a hair color that did not match Lauts' had come near his door and taken pictures.

The lawsuit said she was formally trespassed from the property even though she had never been on Johnson's property, and she was not free to leave during the interaction with police.

Stopped from promoting fundraiser

Sheldon Norcross, of Illinois, was on the phone with Schneider across the street from Johnson's home by a sign advertising a GoFundMe for the family who claimed their collection had been taken. Officers later removed the sign; the lawsuit claimed it was "because (the individuals) were associated with Mr. Schneider, not because of any legitimate time, place, or manner concern."

The lawsuit alleges the group had gotten permission from the neighbor to put the sign there, but the neighbor later withdrew that permission after officers told her it might cause problems with Johnson.

He denied the officers' request to search his phone, and they decided to seize it. The lawsuit claims his phone was "ripped" from his hand and that he was arrested because he "invoked his right to remain silent," the lawsuit says, saying it is citing the officers.

The lawsuit said there was no warrant for the phone and no probable cause to believe it had any evidence of a crime.

"The officers viewed recording and journalism as suspicious activity," it said.

Steven Allen, of Saratoga Springs, reportedly came to the location to get a drone shot and was told to leave. When he asked who was being arrested and what was happening with the GoFundMe, the lawsuit claims he was told if he did not leave, he would be arrested for interfering.

Warrant without clause

The lawsuit claims Paul has since said obtaining a warrant for "stolen … Lego merchandise" was "one of the biggest places where we screwed up." With that warrant, the lawsuit said police stormed a rental property with guns and handcuffed each occupant and brought them to the police station for questioning, including a 16-year-old not involved in this lawsuit.

Paul defended police actions in a YouTube video, but later in a recorded meeting admitted "several issues" were not handled well or in line with policy, the lawsuit claims. The suit says he admitted that officers were not going into the rental property to search for Legos and did not search it for Legos, and that the officers did not have probable cause for each individual they placed in handcuffs.

The lawsuit quotes Paul saying, "there's things that need to change as a result, and in fact, some of those we've already put into place as far as department training goes." It said their average patrol officer has been on patrol for between one and two years.

"If we had slowed down in a lot of this, we probably would have avoided several of the issues we've discussed," Paul said, according to the suit.

The lawsuit said that, as far as these four individuals are aware, none of the officers have been disciplined for any of the alleged conduct. It also said the need for training "was obvious" and would likely result in constitutional violations. It claimed American Fork has failed to train its officers about traffic stop limits, device seizures and civil process. It also criticized the customs of muting body-worn cameras and seizing every occupant while serving a warrant.

"The constitutional violations described above were not isolated. They were caused by the City's policies, customs, and deliberate indifference," it said.

Scott Young, a local attorney representing the individuals, said they were doing nothing wrong.

"What the evidence shows is that American Fork officers targeted them repeatedly without legal justification, and the city's own police chief has acknowledged it," he claimed.

American Fork declined to make a comment on pending or current litigation.

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