Four plaintiffs sue American Fork and 13 police officers in federal court

Four people who helped YouTuber Ben Schneider, known as "Reckless Ben," in American Fork last March have sued the city and 13 of its police officers in federal court, the Lehi Free Press reported. The 52-page complaint, filed Oct. 14 in U.S. District Court in Salt Lake City, lists 19 counts. Plaintiffs Sheldon Norcross, Tyler Shaw, Sierra Lauts and Steven Allen allege officers violated their First and Fourth Amendment rights over four days, and they seek a jury trial and damages. The complaint states that no one was charged with a crime. ^[1]

The lawsuit alleges that officer Cole Richardson stopped Shaw on March 8 for a stop-sign violation that Police Chief Cameron Paul later said "was clearly not one," and that another officer stopped Shaw the next night and held him nearly two hours. It alleges Lauts was detained in her parked car on March 10 and told she was trespassing, and that officers seized Norcross's phone on March 11 after he declined to answer questions and held him about four and a half hours. According to the complaint, officers later served a search warrant at an Airbnb for stolen Lego merchandise, entered with guns drawn and handcuffed all five occupants, including a 16-year-old. The warrant return reads "No items seized." The plaintiffs say the accusation in the warrant affidavit was false. ^[1]

The complaint cites a recording, obtained by the American Fork Citizen, of a meeting among Paul, Mayor Brad Frost and resident Daniel Sroka. In it, Paul is quoted as saying detaining occupants during a search warrant is "almost always the norm," and, according to the complaint, calling the warrant affidavit "one of the biggest places where we screwed up." Sroka said he would like an outside third-party review. Frost did not respond directly, saying, "We can do better. We always can," while calling it "a little myopic" to judge police oversight from a handful of cases. In August, Paul defended the officers' actions toward Norcross, saying, "We detained him for stalking issues." ^[1]

The dispute began over a Star Wars Lego collection that an Oregon family says a Bricks & Minifigs store never paid for. The company announced a settlement with the family in August. Schneider, who is not a plaintiff in this case, still faces misdemeanor stalking and targeted residential picketing charges in 4th District Court, with a preliminary hearing now set for Dec. 16. The plaintiffs' lead attorney, Solomon Radner, said, "We are not anti-police, but we are anti-police corruption, and pro-accountability." American Fork declined to comment on pending litigation. The complaint contains allegations, and no court has ruled on them. ^[1]