Unsplash.com: logan weaver
Police departments across Utah are being mistaken for the American Fork Police Department, which notably arrested YouTuber ‘Reckless Ben’ amidst a $200k Lego investigation.
The Reckless Ben Lego debacle is taking over social media after the YouTuber, whose real name is Benjamin Schneider, began digging into the case of a missing Lego Star Wars collection allegedly worth more than $200,000.
Schneider is now in a fierce legal battle against the American Fork Police Department, accusing them of corruption and collusion in cahoots with the store who allegedly stole the collection, Bricks & Minifigs.
The internet’s ire against the American Fork Police Department has grown so fierce that other police departments in the state of Utah are also being targeted by angry viewers — to the point where they’ve been forced to speak out to clear their names.
Utah police departments urge callers to stop clogging emergency lines with Reckless Ben requests
As reported by News4Utah, several agencies in the state have published official statements clarifying that they are not the American Fork Police Department responsible for handling Schneider’s arrest.
Central Utah 911 posted on Facebook explaining that their call volume jumped from a typical 157 calls to 424 calls on Sunday, May 31. Their busiest hour received a total of 143 calls, 138 of which were non-emergency calls.
The agency said its dispatchers were handling nearly three times their normal workload with a 170% increase in call volume, and many of those calls were from angry netizens giving employees an earful about the Bricks and Minifigs fiasco.
Facebook: Central Utah 911
“We would also ask people to remember there are real people answering these phones,” they wrote. “Over the weekend, dispatchers were yelled at, cursed at, threatened, and subjected to ongoing harassment for circumstances completely outside of their control.
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“Imagine needing to report a house fire, a serious crash, a heart attack, or a crime in progress and being placed on hold because every available line is tied up by calls seeking information that dispatch cannot provide.”
The Salem Utah Police Department issued a similar statement on Facebook on June 1, clarifying that their department has “zero involvement in this matter.”
“We kindly ask that any questions or comments regarding this ongoing situation be directed to the appropriate agency. Thank you for helping us keep our lines clear for local emergencies!” they wrote.
Facebook: Salem Utah Police Department
This is the latest development in the ongoing dispute between Reckless Ben and the American Fork Police Department after Schneider threatened legal action against the agency in a June 1 YouTube video, accusing them of redacting audio from their bodycam footage of his arrest.
