Law&Crime Sidebar - LEGO Scandal Heats Up as 'Reckless Ben' Scores MAJOR Win

Episode Date: September 18, 2026

Popular YouTuber Ben Schneider, known as "Reckless Ben," has scored a major victory after prosecutors in Provo, Utah, dismissed criminal charges against him—though pending charges in American Fork mean his legal battle is far from over. The drop of the felony case stems from an ongoing saga involving an alleged missing $200,000 LEGO collection and subsequent arrests. Law&Crime's Jesse Weber breaks down the surprise court decision and what it really means with litigator Rich Schoenstein.HOST:Jesse Weber: https://twitter.com/jessecordweberLAW&CRIME SIDEBAR PRODUCTION:YouTube Management - Bobby SzokeVideo Editing - Michael Deininger, Christina O'Shea, & Jay CruzScript Writing & Producing - Savannah Williamson, Heather Berzak & Juliana BattagliaGuest Booking - Alyssa Fisher & Diane KayeSocial Media Management - Vanessa BeinSTAY UP-TO-DATE WITH THE LAW&CRIME NETWORK:Watch Law&Crime Network on YouTubeTV: https://bit.ly/3td2e3yWhere To Watch Law&Crime Network: https://bit.ly/3akxLK5Sign Up For Law&Crime's Daily Newsletter: https://bit.ly/LawandCrimeNewsletterRead Fascinating Articles From Law&Crime Network: https://bit.ly/3td2IqoLAW&CRIME NETWORK SOCIAL MEDIA:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lawandcrimeTwitter: https://twitter.com/LawCrimeNetworkFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/lawandcrimeTwitch: https://www.twitch.tv/lawandcrimenetworkTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lawandcrimeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Well, like I told you earlier, you're walking a very dangerous line. Am I being arrested? Really? Yep. Those were the moments that put reckless Ben in handcuffs out in Utah, but now, months later, something has changed. One of the cases against him has taken a very unexpected major turn. Prosecutors made a move that could change the legal fight Ben has been dealing with for months.

The question is why? What does this mean for him? got the court documents and we're bringing on attorney Rich Schoenstein to help us break it all down. Welcome to Sidebar, presented by law and crime. I'm Jesse Weber. Major development in the reckless Ben case that we've been following here on Sidebar. You remember him, right? YouTuber with more than two million subscribers. He was arrested, not once but twice out in Utah, says he was there to serve court papers on a man that he believes was connected to the disappearance of a family's $200,000 Lego collection. Is that being arrested?

Really? So our plan kind of moving forward is we're going to book you back into the jail, okay, for an additional stocking charge. And now, months later, reckless Ben appears to have emerged partially victorious. Well, for now anyway, because prosecutors in Provo, Utah have dismissed charges against him. There is a little bit of catcher. The case was dismissed without prejudice, meaning, prosecutors could potentially bring those charges again. Well, like I told you earlier, you're walking a very dangerous line. Now, to be clear, the charges in American Fork are still pending, so this doesn't mean

that Ben's legal problems in Utah are all over. The question we're diving into here is why Provo prosecutors chose to drop this case and what this dismissal actually means. So we got the documents. We're going to bring on one of our favorite litigators, favorite attorneys Richard Schoenstein to break down what this actually means, why this may be far from over. But before we get into Provo, I want to talk about what Ben's been up to since those March arrests because he certainly hasn't been quiet just a month ago. On August 15th, he dropped one of his biggest investigations yet into Provo Canyon School,

this Utah youth treatment facility. And in that video, Ben says he posed as a 17-year-old, hired an actor to play his father, got admitted, filmed for two days, and then jumped the fence and rant. Salt Lake Tribune also reported on the investigation. And then you go to August 27th, and he dropped another investigation involving allegations against the company called Ideal Living, what he described as a human trafficking ring. Now, those trafficking allegations, however, have not been established as facts. Let's be clear.

But then you go to September 12th, so just days before Provo dismissed the charges, and Ben opened a Lego store in Tucson, Arizona, at a location that had previously been a Bricks and minifigs franchise location. He calls it reckless bricks. So that's the current Ben. We've interviewed him before. He is a very interesting guy. I'll tell you that much.

He's still making undercover operations. He's opened his own Lego store. He's fighting a civil lawsuit. He's still facing criminal charges as an American fork. And just to understand how we got here, okay? What we're about to talk about. You got to go back. You got to go back to the Lego dispute that brought Ben to Utah in the first place.

The civil lawsuit is still in mediation. But bricks and mini-figs initially sought at least, $1.3 million against Ben and others, alleging defamation, civil conspiracy, harassment, more. In this investigation, he was apparently trying to help a family in Oregon that had a massive Lego Star Wars collection, allegedly worth about $200,000. The family had apparently consigned the collection to a Bricks and Minifix franchise store. But after the franchise changed hands, a dispute developed over what happened to the collection, whether the family had been properly compensated. So Ben got involved. He advocated for the family in their

legal fight. That dispute eventually reached a settlement. Bricks and mini-figs later said that the family had been compensated for their losses, but Ben's own legal battles were just getting started because back in June, he sat down with us right here on sidebar, laid out exactly what he said he was facing. The first one is stalking when we tried to start on court papers. The second one is stalking when I made the GoFond me. They couldn't get me for stealing the Legos because obviously they stormed my house. There was no Legos. And then I have, that's an American Fork, but I'm also getting charged in Provo for extortion.

And I'm like, I literally gave the police department the entire raw footage of our entire interaction. 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. Then that was back in June. And it's important because what Ben described there were cases in two different jurisdictions.

In March, Ben was an American fork trying to serve court papers on Joshua Johnson, this Bricks and Minifix franchise owner. And within days, he was in handcuffs. Do you have any weapons or anything like that on you? No. Okay. If the trans find your back. Am I being arrested?

You're under arrest right now for stalking. And then the very next day, police raided the Airbnb where Ben and his crew were staying. The doors are open, windows are open. Windows are open. Are you ready? On you. Everybody step out. Police department, search warrant.

Stand up and come outside. Right now, let's go. Step outside. Step outside, everybody. Come on. Everybody step outside. No, no, no, no. No.

No. They're going to stay me? Don't move right there. I'll move quick. Everybody else is inside? Are we all going to present it? Just serious. They booked them again, this time on a second stalking charge.

So those are the American fork charges. Those are still pending. The Provo case is separate. And that's the case that just got dismissed. The details of that case, though, they go back to an earlier confrontation, involving Ben and Bricks and Mini Figs in Provo. Ben was apparently facing criminal charges stemming from that incident. And as he told us back in June, he believed that the Provo case was much more serious than the stalking charge or charges in American Fork.

But now prosecutors have dismissed it, right? And when you look at the court documents, the explanation for it is remarkably brief. Quote, in the interest of justice, that's it. There isn't a detailed explanation in the dismissal itself laying out exactly why prosecutors made that decision. Because this case was dismissed without prejudice, the dismissal doesn't necessarily prevent prosecutors from bringing the case again. So was there a defect? Was there a problem? What happened here? Why did they decide to drop this case now? What is in the interest of justice actually mean? Does this dismissal really change Ben's broader legal situation? That's what I want to get into. And that's what we're going to break down next. So to help me do that, let me bring back in Rich Schoenstein, one of our favorite litigators, trial attorneys.

Oh my gosh, look at that blazer. Fantastic. I bet you say that to all the trial lawyers. I don't know. I don't. I mean, that's a nice little, that's a nice outfit. I have to admit it. Okay, got to start with this news. In the interest of justice, they have dismissed these charges. So disorderly conduct, trespass. Why? What does that mean interest of justice? That means the prosecutor has determined not to push the charges, not to go forward with the charges. interest of justice is just code to the court that we're taking these charges off the table.

I don't know exactly what it means or why they're doing it, but they're not proceeding. Does it signify to you there's a problem in the case? Well, I don't know that there's a problem in the case. I mean, it was sort of a tic-and-tac case to begin with, right? And this one is about, it seems, allegations of him maybe confronting the CEO of Bricks and Mini Fakes. Right. Right. So, and that, and possibly he stepped over the line in the way he did that. I mean, you can have an opinion about whether or not he should show up with a camera crew and do that kind of confrontation.

But is it a criminal act? Does it require prosecution as long as you get him to leave the guy alone? I don't know. They may have just decided it wasn't worth continuing to prosecute. Do you think because of his exposure, too? I mean, he's got a massive platform. It is bringing a lot of attention to Utah. bringing a lot of attention to law enforcement. Do you think it weighs on prosecutors if the stakes aren't necessarily too high, if the charges are relatively low? They say, do we want this headache?

We'll just drop it. So it could. That would be human nature. But I'm going to tell you that my experience with prosecutors, by and large, with exceptions, by and large, they prosecute the cases they think should be prosecuted. They don't really count out a public opinion because you can't do that. that in a prosecutor's office, you'd be changing your mind all the time about any number of things. Yeah.

So I don't know that I suspect that. I just think maybe, you know, time has passed. He hasn't gone back there to bother the guy. I guess he's still doing videos, but. Well, let me ask you, if they did it without prejudice, leaving the door open that they could ultimately refile, that signifies something, too. Right. That could be a warning. They could say off the record to the lawyer, we're going to take these charges off the table as long as he behaves and we can bring him back. Now, at some point, they'd have a statute of limitations to confront. I mean, they can't wait forever to bring a trespass charge. I don't know how many years it is, but, you know, they might say to them, stay away from the dude and we're not going to move on

these charges. Do you think they want to see how the American Fork case plays out first? There was no need to drop the charges to see that. You could have simply waited to see how the other case played out and then made a decision about dropping it. I mean, this is a partial victory for him, though. Sure. Yeah. Sure. It takes some pressure off not to be prosecuted.

I don't know, you know, I don't think he was under any real threat of going to jail. It's not that kind of case, so I don't know how much pressure he was under. Also, I'd have to say from viewing a little bit of his content, I think he used the fact that he was being prosecuted in an effort to build his brand and attract followers, right? Yeah. So does it help him not to be prosecuted anymore? Maybe it hurts him. Well, what do you think about his most recent online activity I talked about before? He hasn't really been quiet. I mean, you know, he's doing different investigations.

He really has a huge following. But, I mean, he opened a Brick's a mini-fig store. He opened his own Lego store. That'd be more accurate. Well, he's got so purely from the point of view of a guy who's in maybe, you know, criminal proceedings and civil proceedings, the advice to him would be shut up, you know, don't do anything. You just got to litigate the cases. But he makes his living online. He's building a brand.

He has to communicate. So he did that one video a while ago where he was like, this is my final comment. on this and then it wasn't. Well, because there were certain, you know, he claimed the court his right to speak, his First Amendment right, was being violated. There's now conditions put in place

where he's agreed to not, you know, harass them or go near them. Doesn't mean he can't open up a Lego store. It is interesting, though. I think about this, and I wonder not only the criminal cases and, you know, how Provo and American Fork are connected or possibly connected,

but actually, Let's just start there before I talk about the civil case. Do you think based on what happened with the Provo prosecutors, that's going to affect American Fork? Do you think they're going to do something similar? Do you think they're in conversation at all? Do you think the cases are related, not? What are the charges in American Fork? So stalking. So stalking. I'm going to read you actually the actual charges here. So in Provo, it was disorderly conduct. It's a Class C misdemeanor, criminal trespass, a class B misdemeanor. Then, in American Fork, it's stalking, a Class A misdemeanor,

and targeted residential picketing, a Class B misdemeanor. This far east of Utah, I have no idea if these prosecutors are acting together or have talked or have communicated. I have no idea if the American Fork prosecutors find the Provo Prosecutor's actions to be meaningful. I will say, I also think. it's a tickey-tacky case in American Fork. Really?

Yeah, the guy's not, it's hard to know where to draw the line between somebody who's trying to do an investigation and aid of his podcast and his YouTube channel, which people are doing. There's a lot of people out there doing things like that, but of course they can't be too intrusive. When does it become stalking, right? When does it cross the line? And I think if you're able to get him to, if the authorities get involved and he leaves the guy alone, your job is done. Yeah. I don't know what you need to prosecute after that.

The point was to have him stop it and that part he appears to have stopped. What do you make of the civil case? Because I find this really interesting in a number of different ways, right? Bricks and mini figs has basically gone after him for defamation. conspiracy, other causes of action. And as I mentioned, as part of that, he has to stay away from bricks and mini-fig stores. He can't seek private, confidential information from their employees. He can't threaten the company, harass anybody.

But, you know, it makes an interesting argument about is he making money off of what, you know, his coverage of this and what the claims are. And it just seems to me, like if you were representing him at this point, what would you be advising him to do or not do? Well, I'd want to know the answer to the question you just asked. I mean, presumably he's making some money off of it because he has a YouTube platform that I assume is monetized at his level of subscriptions and viewers, right? And so he's put out content about this that probably literally has made him money.

Yes. Because of views of that content. So if I was advising him, I would say, Ben, how much are you making? how important is this to you, right? Let's try to figure out the extent to which you need to continue this, because I assume one of his options is to make a deal with bricks and... Minifigs. That he'll stop.

And then the litigation can go away, but what is the financial cost to him of stopping? What is the reputational cost to him of stopping? How important is it that he continues to do that? I would want to know that in order to try to him. try to negotiate a resolution. I assume that civil litigation will be resolved at some point. I don't expect a trial in that case. But when you listen to him and when I interviewed him, this means something to him. He's really bothered by what happened with this family, this Mencel family, trying to get their Lego collection back and feeling jipped. And to me, it doesn't seem like he

wants to drop it. To me, it seems like he might want to take this to trial to not only defend himself, but tell his sort of narrative, whether it's in the criminal case or even the civil case. And so it does present an interesting perspective for him, right? I mean, he doesn't seem like he wants to be backing down. They settle with the family. Right, but that takes the wind out of his sales a little bit. They've ended the fundamental controversy that started all of this. They've settled, I assume that means have paid some money to the family,

and that's been resolved. So does he still need to tell the story? I accept your premise. Your premise is he's not just making content to make money. he also has feelings about this particular case. I accept that premise. I think from what I've seen, that sounds right to me. But is that a fight that he needs to continue

where they've settled with the ultimate victims? Yeah, no, that's fair. And look, I think it's interesting that he's doing these side investigations that are unrelated to this whatsoever because if he's making a lot of money off of that, maybe it goes to the legal bills, maybe it goes, let me ask you this.

in a civil case, if he were to lose, would they be entitled to what he's earned on YouTube from this? Well, they could conceptualize damages in that way. Really, the damages, there's a defamation case at its core. So the damage would be the harm to the reputation of bricks and mini figs. They could show that by demonstrating, for example, they could show a sales trend. If their sales suddenly dived at the time of his defamination,

statements, they could make a case that he caused that. The damage should be based on the harm to them, but they can make an argument. You do make an argument sometimes in civil cases that damages can be assessed by the benefit or the unjust enrichment of the defendant. So they could, I'm sure they would take discovery on and use whatever he's making, posting these videos.

I think this is a fascinating conversation. I think it's a fascinating legal conversation. It's a fascinating legal conversation. I think it's fascinating the story behind it. I didn't know anything about the Lego community. I didn't know anything about bricks and mini-fags. I have learned a lot, and I've learned a lot about reckless Ben. Well, you know why, but you know why it's so interesting?

Because he's an interesting dude. Yeah, for sure. The underlying story is interesting. I agree with all that. But there are, at last count, 10 million reckless Benz on the Internet, investigating all kinds of things. and the ground rules for who can do what in aid of a podcast. Everybody in America has a podcast.

I have a podcast, right? Anybody can have one. That's how I know that. So all these people are running around doing this thing and setting the rules of the road in a case like this of some notoriety, that's what's interesting about it. When is it legit broadcasting and when is it stalking? And windows across the line.

So this will be maybe an interesting determination since there's a lot of eyeballs on it. Rich Schoenstein, good seeing you. Thanks for taking the time. My pleasure. And that's all we have for you right now here on Sidebar. Everybody, thank you so much for joining us. Like and subscribe. I'm Jesse Weber.

See you next time.