SALT LAKE CITY — A federal civil rights lawsuit has been filed against the City of American Fork and multiple police officers over the viral Reckless Ben LEGO conflict.
Four Utah residents filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court, claiming police performed "unconstitutional stops, searches, and arrests" during a dispute that gained nationwide attention earlier this year.
The residents appeared in videos on the YouTube channel of Ben Schneider, also known as "Reckless Ben." Schneider was investigating an incident in which a family claimed its $200,000 collection was stolen by Utah-based LEGO resellers, Bricks and Minifigs.
During his investigation in March, Schneider was arrested on stalking and picketing charges. The plaintiffs in the lawsuit, Sheldon Norcross, Tyler Shaw, Sierra Lauts, and Steven Allen, assisted Schneider in his investigation, but were never charged with a crime.
The lawsuit highlights four separate incidents over multiple days in March involving police officers who allegedly violated the constitutional rights of the plaintiffs.
According to the lawsuit, Shaw was stopped twice by police for traffic violations and held for hours. Lauts was detained for allegedly trespassing while trying to serve court papers, while Norcross was arrested after he "invoked his right to remain silent, according to a statement from the group's attorneys.
The lawsuit describes a statement American Fork Police Chief Cameron Paul made in a video statement about the incidents, saying, "...the honest truth is, we didn’t do this perfectly... there’s several issues that I think weren’t handled well, or were handled outside of policy, and so those are all things that I’m looking to address.”