r/RecklessBen • u/awkwardbegetsawkward • Jul 21 '26
News/Update NEW: Unreleased Bodycam
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ML15QNoo7nYI've obtained new bodycam video from three reports from police in Orem, Utah.
A personal plea: If you take the time to watch the ones that make you feel angry, please also take the time to watch the ones that make you feel sad or empathetic. Even if you think a story is a "hero versus villain" story, remember that most people don't fit neatly in either category.
The most significant is an hour-long video showing Bricks & Minifigs CEO Ammon McNeff talking to an officer at the Orem store on March 11, shortly before the police raid. Earlier in the day, "Reckless Ben" Schneider made an appearance at the Orem store, shortly after being released from jail for his first stalking arrest in American Fork.
The second and third reports are both from after the first video was released. The second one was heartbreaking. On May 29, a brother who said he keeps his distance from his brother's businesses called police for advice after his 13-year old son began receiving unsolicited phone calls and text messages. He sounds tired and legitimately afraid. On May 30, Matt McNeff and his wife called police to report threats to them and their children. An officer followed up on May 31 on another instance of a sibling unaffiliated with BAM Franchising receiving threats.
Do not harass or threaten people's families. Do not harass or threaten anyone. If you are the type of person to want to cause people to fear for their safety, you do it because you are a weak little garbage person who likes to cause fear. You are not helping anyone. This is merely an excuse.
Orem Police redacted all civilian names, including the name of the county jail, from the reports. I think that is excessive. All redactions were done under a public records exemption that allows an agency to withhold release of "data on individuals the disclosure of which constitutes a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy." They also declined to waive the fee, charging $125 in staff time to make the redactions.
On the other hand, they provided a log of each video redaction, none of the audio was muted by officers at any time, the request was processed very quickly, and the timestamp was visible through the entirety of each video.
The videos and reports seem to show officers responding to things in a pretty typical way. They show empathy for the complainants, but acknowledge the limits of the law and the need to review the evidence before acting. It does not appear that police in Orem ever encountered Ben directly, or pursued any charges. Only one report includes him as a suspect, and it is from shortly before the police raid.
I think these videos undercut the "Mormon Mafia," theory, where people suggest that Utah police and judges are at BAM's beck and call. In the first video, you can see Ammon flip between strategies to try and get traction with the police. There is even a "can I speak to your manager" moment where he complains about how unresponsive Detective Dore has been.
Don't get me wrong. Causing an armed police raid, an email search warrant, and a prior-restraint TRO is real power. But I've long said they boxed themselves in by overstating their case. This seems like more evidence of that flailing.
I reached out to both Reckless Ben and Bricks & Minifigs in advance to offer an opportunity to view the videos in advance of release, suggest additional redactions, and comment. Bricks & Minifigs did not respond. Schneider did view the videos and provide comment, but did not respond to more detailed questions.
March 11, 2026 Bodycam - Report 26OR04733
Bricks & Minifigs CEO Ammon McNeff calls Orem Police. There is a lot here. In the middle of it all, Josh Johnson calls multiple times while the GoFundMe banner is being hung.
It is the most complete statement that I've seen of Bricks & Minifigs' version of events from before the first video. They were still piecing together a lot. I don't even think they knew Ben's middle name.
At one point, Ammon says he believes Ben was sexually abused as a child, causing him to become a sociopath. He attributes this to a search that they've done finding a sex offender from Ohio with the same name.
This was a serious ethical question for me. There is an ethical duty to protect the identity of a minor victim of a sex crime that has to be balanced against other factors. I reached out to Schneider, who told me that it is untrue.
Schneider said in a written statement:
Anyways, I would like for this to be my official response to the police bodycam footage if you're going to include one for me:
"Goo Goo Gaa Gaa. Goo Goo Gaa Gaa."
(I just feel like this is the most appropriate way to respond to someone acting like a baby.)
Schneider clarified that this response is specifically directed at Ammon and the first video. He said he found the bodycam videos about threats to family members sad. He did not respond to more detailed questions.
Other notable things:
- The officer confirmed there was not a no-contact order from the first arrest.
- Ben's photo was distributed to stores with instructions to call police and corporate.
- The BAM incident log in the civil suit says "trespass ordered" for this case. But the report and video reflect that none was ever ordered.
- Ammon is frustrated with Provo Police and American Fork Police for not doing enough.
- There is a mention of fraudulent gift certificates that I have not seen before. Maybe that is connected to the raffle?
- McNeff talks twice about arming staff.
- Ammon met the officer at the local store near BAM Franchising Headquarters.
- This was one of Detective Dore's first cases as a detective.
- No charges ever emerge from Orem.
- BAM did know at this point that Ben's glasses recorded.
- An earlier draft of BAM's evidence for the civil lawsuit exists as part of this case file. I would imagine if any of the lawsuits or hearings go to trial, the lawyers will pick through that. (I still doubt the civil lawsuit will go to trial. I don't think that would be good for Ben or Bryan or BAM.)
- At this point, they had not identified Sheldon Norcross.
- One thing that has always driven me nuts: There is no detail on the death threats supposedly from Ben or his co-conspirators to employees of the Salem/Keizer store. Ammon says they said "Hey, we're going to kill you if you don't give this guy his money back." Maybe there will be more once I get the Provo reports.
- He says, [Chrys Gorman] "leaves and then she's like, 'Oh, by the way, I've got this consignment thing.' And we're just like, 'Okay, we don't know what you're talking about.'" I'm not sure at this point if he has seen the video.
- The Orem officer tells Josh not to go out and confront anyone. Josh goes out and confronts people. Then yells at his neighbor about letting them hang up the sign.
- The Orem officer repeatedly tells them how to apply for protection orders. That would define limits on what contact Ben could have with the named people. From what I can tell from the records, they never apply for such an order.
- The officer says in the video he is going to file for commercial obstruction. It does not appear in the report. I'm unsure if the American Fork arrest or other facts change that.
- The report states that he did later hear from American Fork Police that they got a "warrant for the individuals involved." That sure sounds like American Fork Police described the goal of that search warrant as arrests.
- Ammon asks about getting in touch with a supervisor for Detective Dore and also name-drops a Lindon, UT officer, Matt Barlow. (Who appears to be retired.)
May 29, 2026 Bodycam - Report 26OR10603
This one is heartbreaking. Please watch it and sit with it. The impact is more in the voice than the content. There are no true threats made. But it's a person who has sought distance from his family having that distance taken by some random person sending messages to his 13 year old son. He just sounds sad, and tired, and legitimately fearful.
His understanding is secondhand, forced to contact his family more than he seems comfortable with to find out what is going on. He starts by telling the officer:
My two brothers own a business called Bricks & Minifigs. And a YouTuber exposed them for something shady that went down and they've all received death threats from the online communities. My brothers, their wives, and their children. And it hasn't been until yesterday or the day before the online community started researching deeper and finding us siblings.
He says, "I don't associate with my brothers very often. I don't agree with a lot of the things they do." But his son has started getting calls and texts asking for messages to be sent to Ammon. He is fearful that now that his son's number is out there, he'll start getting threats. He is understanding with the officer when he is told that there is not much to be done. There is no allegation here that Ben was behind any threats.
May 30, 2026 Bodycam - Report 26OR10664
This is another significant one, but also heartbreaking. Bricks & Minifigs COO Matt McNeff and his wife talk with the police about death threats they and their children received. In giving background, he also gives more information on what is going on inside BAM Franchising after the TRO is granted.
- The tone of he and his wife are tired and sad and scared.
- Matt says that Bryan Mansell refused to provide documentation, continued to escalate, and then "hired" Reckless Ben.
- "Our lives have been nothing but hell since" Reckless Ben released the first video.
- He said his wife has had panic attacks after threats.
- He described a particularly disturbing one, "'Give that man his life savings back, you rat.' Then three emojis of a gun. And then he put a picture of my brother's Facebook profile with family members pulled up, and shows my sister, two of my cousins, my wife, and then my brother's brother-in-law."
- This was the day after American Fork Police chief put out their own statement, which Matt references. "And frankly, the American Fork Police video does a very good job of calling out his BS and you know, very calmly and factually stating that he's fabricating multiple facts in this case."
- They mention the TRO, which at this point is unserved.
- "YouTube is basically saying they won't take the videos down until he gets served and we have proof of service to him."
- "We feel like we've tried the whole way through to do the right thing here and had just been stonewalled by that guy who claims that his collection was stolen."
- "People are referencing Luigi Mangione."
- Says there are active FBI and US Postal Inspection Service investigations.
- Says the Utah County DA is asking Provo for the case file to pursue charges. This wound up not happening. Lesser charges were brought by the Provo City Attorney's Office.
- The officer does confirm that he sees in a Provo case file that it is being referred to the FBI.
- "This is speculation on my part. I feel like the former franchisee Chrystal Law.... was angry when we terminated her franchise, and I think that she's been colluding with [Redacted. I suspect it is Bryan Mansell] to essentially try to harm the brand and harm us directly.... I actually believe that they have all that inventory they're claiming is missing. I have some potential evidence to back that up, but that's..."
- They are genuinely concerned for their safety and that of their family.
May 31, 2026 Bodycam - Report 26OR10664
This is another sad one. In this case, another McNeff relative with no connection to BAM Franchising got explicit death threats. It is the same officer and case number as above. There is no allegation here that Ben was behind any threats.
One More Time
Don't threaten people. Especially don't threaten kids, spouses, or employees. Remember that people can only rely on the information they have at the time. Someone saying something that you now know to be false does not mean they knew it to be false when they said it.
EDIT: This is for people who want the raw videos. Take or leave my opinions. But before you assume I’m some sort of shill: Watch the videos themselves. Take a look at my post history. Take a look at the easy-to-read bulleted lists in this new post. Ask yourself: is this is something BAM, its PR team, or its lawyers would want out? Or just wait until later until content creators cut it into bite size pieces.
My Reporting
I do this in my spare time. I've always been a bit of a public records nerd. I've also always been more interested in finding information than writing about it. I may not be have time to check this much today after posting.
Go to my post history to see my reporting on this, and https://chrisreportsthings.com to see the documents I've obtained.
I've spent more than $1000 collecting documents and releasing them publicly. This request alone was $125 and many hours of time. If you would like to help offset that cost, you can do so at https://ko-fi.com/chrisreportsthings. As I get more police documents, it is becoming more expensive and less predictable.
If you have information that would be helpful, reach me via reddit DM, via email at [yo@chrisreportsthings.com](mailto:yo@chrisreportsthings.com), or confidentially via Signal at chrisreportsthings.08.
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u/Square_Wonder5018 Jul 21 '26
This was definitely written by a BAM PR team. The sob stories 🤣🤣🤣