Court Demands Fingerprints in 'Reckless Ben' LEGO Scandal

Welcome to Sidebar presented by Law and. Crime. I'm [music] Jesse Weber. Okay, got an update for you in the. Reckless Ben saga. He was in court. He. was in court. We have the video of it. Now, before I play you the video of this. and tell you what happened, I got to. give you the backstory and uh also an. update for you since the last time we. talked about this case. So, this all. centers around a dispute over this. reportedly highvalued Star Wars Lego. collection. There was a guy named Brian.

Mancel says he placed this Lego. collection that was reportedly. originally valued at over $200,000, although there was reporting maybe it's. worth less than that on consignment at a. Bricks and Minig store in Salem, Oregon. back in 2023. Apparently, the original. owner of this store sell the sets, keep. a commission, and there you go. But. Bricks and Minifigs corporate allegedly. said to do this, to enter into this. agreement with Menel, this violated. their franchise rules. 2024, the store. closed. And the details about that, by.

the way, are even in dispute. That's a. side question. But Manel reportedly. asked for either the remaining parts of. the collection that hadn't been sold. back to come back to him or $80,000. Now, the new store managers, reportedly. Joshua Johnson and Brandon Best, allegedly said the Lego sets weren't. there. And according to the Salem. Business Journal, one year after. entering into this consignment agreement. with the prior owner, Menel reportedly. sent a termination notice to Johnson. saying he hadn't been paid that month's.

earnings from sales and that he hadn't. been allowed to come inspect the. inventory. Eventually, they seem to. offer Manel recovered sets worth $2,000. to $5,000, which Manel reportedly. rejects. So Mancel and his family. allegedly don't get the Legos. They. don't get the money. And according to. Salt Lake Tribune, court records alleged. that for months, Menel filed police. reports, posted negative reviews, allegedly harassed the new managers.

That's an allegation. This is when. YouTuber Reckless Ben gets involved. Okay. Gets involved. He's this. investigative podcaster and he. reportedly travels to Utah. This is. where Johnson and Best's LLC is. headquartered and allegedly even goes to. their homes. According to Oregon Live, court records appear to show that in. March of 2026, Reckless Ben filed a. small claims lawsuit against Johnson. Before I even get into that, when I.

interviewed Reckless Ben right here on. Sidebar, this is his uh take on the. legal situation, part of his take. When. did the lawsuit get filed? the first one. So, we actually did one. lawsuit and then they ended up closing. down the whole store. So, that ended up. actually not working out. Um, I think. they closed down a store to avoid paying. us. So, we're like, well, if we can't. sue the LLC, we'll we shut down their. store, we'll just sue him personally, you know. And so, that lawsuit was filed.

probably a couple days before I went to. Oregon, I'd say. So, so in other words, you couldn't even. get this in front of a court, get this. in front of a jury, litigate it. They. closed the store. So, there was nothing. else to do. So, you decided to go uh to. Utah now to confront uh Mr. Johnson, right? And explain to us what happened. there. >> So, um it's such a long story. So, first, before you can get a court case. approved, you have to have what's called.

a good faith conversation. And I mean, every state's different, but in Marian. County court in Oregon, Utah, this is. their procedure, I guess. So, you have. to show actual verifiable proof that you. tried to have like resolve it outside of. court first before it can get to a. court. So, I uh go to Josh's house to. basically just talk this out with him. like, "Hey, like we don't want to take. you to court. Can we solve this like. adults, you know?" And he calls the cops. on me and they let me go, of course. um.

because I didn't do anything illegal. And then. uh and then I'm like, "Okay, well, we. had the good faith conversation. My. court case gets approved." So we next. step serving papers. Uh I can't serve. him papers because I'm involved in the. court case. But uh I So I just like. literally put on my Instagram story. I. was like, "Hey, anyone want to like help. me with a video?" when someone reached. out and I felt kind of bad sending her. there by herself because she's like a. girl going to this unhinged like kind of.

lunatic guy who literally the previous. day made a false yeah we think he made a. false arrest saying we had heroin in our. car we got a three-hour search our car. the day before. So this guy is unhinged. He actually we found out later that it's. good that I probably went with her. because he said he was going to shoot. the next person that like walks on his. property or something. He told that to. the police. So, um, basically I was. sitting in the car next to her and we. got permission from the police. We said, "Hey, is it okay if we do this, we will.

sit in the the street like we pay taxes, you know, so like we have a right to be. on the street like the sidewalk and when. he walks outside then we'll serve him. his paper and the police like, "Yep, that's fine. As long as you're in the. street, just don't go you, Ben. specifically. Don't go on his property.". And so we're going to wait for him to. come outside and then the girl was going. to serve him his court paper. But before. we could do that, he called the cops on. us. And at first the cops were like, "Okay, like I see what you guys are. doing here. Like this is the legal way. to do it." They leave. He calls the cops.

on us again. Um I think the cops just. ended up leaving and coming back for. probably like a two or three hour period. until finally Josh has convinced the. police that this is a fake lawsuit. And. we see this in the unreacted body camp, but he's like it I think he said it's a. billion a million billion quadrillion. time percent fake is what he said and. his exact quotes and he's now fully. convinced the police department this is. a fake lawsuit. So the police officer.

actually goes and calls the court. verifies it's a real lawsuit and then. after that that's when they arrest me. I. guess. >> I know this is a little bit of a 180 but. I have to say it. Do you hate calling to. make a doctor's appointment? And I feel. like everybody does. It's so easy to. procrastinate either because of having. phone anxiety or having to play phone. tag and wait for the call backs. Look, our sponsor, Zach Talk, makes it so much. easier. Zach's free app and website lets. you search and compare local in-et. network doctors, which means you can. make an appointment without an.

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off your to-do list. That is. zoocdo.comjesse. Yeah. So then there's this body cam. footage and you see the various. interactions with police and Ben and. others who were reportedly connected to. Ben and there were allegations. Ben was. directing these people and there were. there was impersonation allegations just. to get closer to the homes to get. contact with Johnson and Best and this. all leads to Ben's arrest.

>> How's it going? I'm officer Alport. Police Department. How you doing? >> Good. How are you? >> Good. >> What's your name? >> Are you Ben? >> Okay. Go ahead and lower this window for. me, would you? What's your last name? Ben. >> Schneider. >> Schneider. Okay. What are we doing, boys? >> We're just going for a drive. I actually. live in the area. >> Okay, I'll ask again cuz I wasn't born. yesterday. Why are we doing it?

Why Why are we harassing people? Okay, go ahead and give me your ID. Do. you have your ID on you or no? >> Okay. All right. So, >> do you want to follow us to my house? My. house is literally down the street to my. right. >> So, well, here's the thing. Okay. So, you were all involved. You were all involved yesterday in an. issue at at uh 274 Stores Avenue, right?

>> Well, you were trespassed from the residents. yesterday, correct? on the res. >> I know you sent someone else. >> We didn't send anyone else. >> Who sent him then? >> I don't know. We did tell his we found. out what church he lives in. We did say. uh we told the bishop that church. and I think they said they might send. someone.

These are the other two that were. trespassed yesterday, though. >> Why don't you call him? Tell him to come. over to the car cuz he's not. >> We don't have that number. >> How did he call you guys then?

Really, guys? >> Yeah. >> Are we We're going to play stupid. I know he called you guys. I watched him. try to get in your car. >> I don't have his number at all. >> Okay. But is there is there for.

a church member to go up? >> Well, he's saying you sent him. So, it's. not a church member going up and asking. me if they want to like they seem like. they want to. >> 32. Go ahead. >> They seem like they want to. go for 610. >> Okay. Listen. Okay. If we want to play. stupid, we can play stupid. I'm not. Okay. So, I'm going to be straight up. with you guys. He was at somebody's. house. >> Yeah.

>> Harassing that individual. He got tres. Listen, he got trespassed today. Okay. >> I see I watch him tried to get in your. guys' car and then he and then he bails. Listen to what I'm saying though. Then. he said, "Ben is the one that sent me to. Yeah. So Schneider was reportedly arrested. twice by American Fork police, charged. with misdemeanors of stalking and. targeted residential picketing. And then. there was a separate case that he was. charged with disorderly conduct and.

criminal trespass in connection with an. incident back on December 10th, 2025. This is where he allegedly went to a. Bricks and Minifix corporate office. You. go to May, Ben releases a video series. about this complicated case, goes viral, millions of views about this, accuse. corporate of stealing, claim that police. are protecting them, bricks and minigs. They end up filing a lawsuit against. Reckless Ben, Mr. Manel, and others. You're talking 13 causes of action.

RICO. So this is racketeering, defamation, uh injurious falsehood, civil conspiracy, stalking, nuisance, trespass, intentional infliction of emotional. distress. There a lot there. And. corporate claims that Ben and Mel, they. allegedly coordinated this massive. multiplatform media campaign that was. aimed at not finding the truth, but was. really an extortion plot to extort money. and damage the company's brand and.

reputation. that this was allegedly. done, a very lucrative commercial prank. stunt to get clicks, get all this money. on GoFundMe, boost Patreon subscribers. And they claimed that this wasn't. investigative journalism, but across the. line. And they alleged that there were. fake raffle materials and fake Guinness. World Records style awards and disguises. and posting signs and all this. They. form they said it was basically like. harassment. And they basically said this. led to online harassment and review. bombing and death threats and that.

they're seeking all this money and. damages. Those are the allegations. They. also reportedly got a win in court, a. temporary restraining order, a TTRO, saying that the plaintiffs are likely to. win on the merits of their case. And the. court order essentially prevented Ben. and Menel from contacting, harassing, stalking, or intimidating any of the. plaintiffs, their corporate employees or. store owners, stalking, trespassing, or. targeted picketing anywhere near the.

private residences or storefronts. belonging to the plaintiffs, publishing, distributing or broadcasting false, defamatory, or disparaging images or. statements regarding the business or its. affiliates. that. And by the way, that's. going to affect the YouTube portion of. this, the videos, soliciting or. recruiting Bricks and Minifigs. employees, franchises or contractors to. work as undercover agents, creating, orchestrating or participating in staged. confrontations or deceptive activities. You get the idea. Now, Reckless Ben then.

goes on camera and says, he makes a. video of this and says, "Look, while. we're all waiting for the next part of. his video series, he claims legally he. can't release it.". >> Episode 3 is finally finished after. crazy all-nighters and basically. destroying my health, but I can't post. it or I will go to jail. And not only. that, I will also immediately lose my. lawsuit of $300,000 and the GoFundMe we. made for Brian will go straight to this.

mystery company that I am no longer. allowed to talk about. But now we have. an update. This is new. According to. ksl.com, Bricks and Minifigs and Reckless Men. agreed to resolve their dispute through. mediation, not a public lawsuit. This is. a different dispute resolution method. It's private and this will apparently. reverse the court's decision preventing. Ben from releasing his next video. Effectively cancels an upcoming court.

hearing where both sides were going to. argue about this TTRO. So Ben agrees in. essence that neither he nor anyone. working with him or affiliated with him. would make any threats against Bricks. and Minifigs or the owners or destroy. property or stalk or trespass or publish. any personal contact information about. the plaintiffs or even go within a 100. yards of the bricks and mini figs. offices. Okay, all of that happens and. now this brings us to what happened.

today in Utah court. the criminal case. against Ben Schneider, Reckless Ben, and. there was reporting about whether or not. he was going to represent himself in. this. So, look, we weren't sure what to. expect. We go this hearing live. very, very short. As you'll see, this is. a virtual hearing. Take a look at what. happened. >> All right, we have is it Mr. Williams. online? >> Yes, your honor. Good morning. How are. you? >> I'm doing well. How are you, Mr.

Williams? >> I'm doing well. Thank you for asking, sir. >> Okay. And we've got Mr. Schneider. online. >> I believe he is here. Yes, >> I'm here. Yes. >> Okay. We're here on case 261 ending 376. scheduled for a pre-trial this morning. Mr. Williams, what's anticipated? >> Um, your honor, I'm asking the court uh. to give us another pre-trial conference. date. Mr. Delisino when I entered our. appearance uh on June 24th and I know. that the city has responded to our.

requests for discovery and I know that. we have some um Mr. Delino and I were in. a federal jury trial all last week in. St. George and so we're just sort of. getting caught up on what's been. provided right now. So, if the court. could give us a new date, that would. give us a chance to go through what the. city's provided. >> just in the normal course then, Mr. Williams. >> Um, I have. probably, your honor, what what is the.

next available date? Um, maybe. >> about a month out if. >> Where does Mr. Schneider live? Um, California, Los Angeles. >> Okay. So, I'm assuming you need a WebEx. >> Yes. >> Okay. >> Your honor, if the court could consider. September 1st, if will these always be. on Tuesdays or Mondays, I apologize. >> Monday or Tuesday is fine.

>> Monday or Tuesday. Could uh if the court. has availability on September 1st. and Ben, does that work with you? >> Uh, yes. every day. >> Yeah, that doesn't work for us. >> Uh September, >> let me go past Labor Day. >> Oh, September 15th. Would that work?

>> September 15th, 11 o'clock Utah time. >> We need. >> Mr. Schneider, did you do fingerprints? Um, oh no, I have to get those done. still. >> Yeah, Mr. Williams, can you work with. them and get those submitted? >> I will, your honor. We'll we'll make. sure that's taken care of. >> Okay. Anything else, gentlemen? >> No, your honor. Thank you. >> Okay. Thank you. >> So, there you go. You heard from Ben. He. was on this virtual hearing. His next. pre-trial hearing has been rescheduled.

to September 15th, 2026 at 11:00 a.m. Utah time. Nothing groundbreaking here. very common for rescheduling of hearings. to happen. So, we don't have anything. substantive, no substantive updates. other than he needs to do those. fingerprints. Utah law appears to lay. out how you can obtain fingerprints of a. criminal defendant who hasn't been. booked into jail on charges. But there. you go. And as this case progresses, I. go back to my conversation with Reckless. Ben here on Sidebar. Listen to this. Are.

you currently facing criminal charges? >> Oh, a bunch. Yeah. So what are you what are you facing? >> Uh the first one is um stalking when we. tried to serve um court papers. The. second one is stalking when I. uh made the GoFundMe. They couldn't get. me for the stealing the Legos because. obviously they stormed my house. There. was no Legos. They tried to get me. >> You were accused of that at one point. You were accused of you being the one to. steal the Legos.

>> Yeah. >> Legos. Sorry. I found out that it's not. Legos. It's Lego. That's the plural. I. found that out. So. >> I just found that out too. Like I always. thought it was Legos. >> I was looking at Legos the whole time. also. >> Yeah. But you were accused of that at. one point. >> So you got a search warrant to steal. search my house for stolen Legos. Obviously they search the house by no. Legos. And then they just arrest. everyone inside which all the people. that were inside didn't have probable. cause to arrest them. They're just in a. house. Like if you search a house that. doesn't give you probable cause to. arrest everyone in the house. You know, maybe you could say I deserved it.

because I created this GoFundMe. I. thought the GoFundMe was legitimate, you. know, like this guy was stolen. Let's. just get the money back. But I guess in. the state of Utah, they don't like it. when you reimburse stuff like money for. someone who got their stuff stolen. And. so I'm doing criminal charges for the. GoFundMe. And then I have so that that's. in uh American Fork, but I'm also. getting charged in Provo for extortion. So after I basically just talked to the.

CEO like, "Hey, can we like please have. the Legos back?" You know, I was pretty. nice to him. And then he calls the. police department and says that I I. swear guys, it's coming out in the video. in like four or five days. He calls the. police department and says, "Ben said if. you don't give the Legos back right now, I'm going to burn down the entire. building and I'm going to shoot everyone. inside." And I'm like, I literally gave. the police department the entire raw. footage of our entire interaction that. there's nothing like that in there and.

they're still charging me for that. And. that one's a felony. It's a class B. felony they're getting me for. So, I. don't know what's going on. Um, I guess. we'll find out in court. That's going to. be exciting. But, um, yeah. >> After by by the way, as we're talking. about all this, do you regret jumping in. on this? I mean, you repercussions. It's. awesome. You said it's awesome. >> Yeah. My whole career has been basically. trying to put myself in like super hard. situations, then figuring a way to solve.

it and like like, okay, we have this. huge problem. How are we going to solve. it? And now I feel like I got a pretty. big problem, right? Like this company's. using one of the best law firms in the. entire world to try and destroy me from. putting out this documentary about him. How do I get out of this problem? It's a. huge problem. And I don't know, I can. come up with creative ways to get out at. it, I guess. So, um, that it's like a. peak like what I live for, you know? I. love solving problems. I love doing hard. things. And this is exactly what I live. for. >> Now, I got to call something out, too,

that I thought was interesting. This is. a misdemeanor case. It has gotten a lot. of attention, a lot of thoughts, a lot. of commentary on Reckless Ben and what. he purportedly was trying to do, who's. in the right, who's in the wrong. uh law. enforcement even got involved in this in. terms of saying, "Look, we know that. people have feelings about this. We're. just trying to follow the law." But KSL. spoke with Steve Burton, who is a Utah. attorney. He's also the director of the. Utah Defense Attorney Association, and. he brought up some interesting points to.

consider in the criminal case that I. just want to call out. So, he basically. made again some interesting points about. how under current Utah law, law. enforcement, they're able to redact. portions of body cam footage. So, while. people may think something nefarious is. going on, there are perhaps legal. exceptions to what can be publicly. released. Now, maybe, this is something. that was talked about in the article, perhaps there needs to be a change in. the law. I don't know. He also.

questioned whether the stalking charge. is appropriate, that he and his. organization tried to challenge it, to. change it to mean someone has to be in. fear for their physical safety, not just. that it causes emotional distress. So he. basically made the argument that that. statute is broad as well as disorderly. conduct and residential picketing. He. even questioned the validity of one of. those initial traffic stops that saw Ben. talk to the cops. Is it possible those.

conversations or evidence that was. obtained from that stop could be thrown. out? I don't know. Something to look out. for. But again, as this case progresses, we're going to be on top of it here on. Sidebar. And just some things to think. about. It's all we have for you right. now. Thank you so much for joining us. As always, please subscribe on YouTube, Apple Podcast, Spotify, wherever you. should get your podcast. You can also. check us out on NBC's [music] Peacock as. well. If you want to follow me ex. Instagram, my NewsNation show, Jesse. Weber live, Monday through Friday, 11:00. [music] p.m. Eastern. See you next time,

everybody.