Utah agencies inundated by calls as American Fork Police faces controversy over Lego YouTuber arrest

SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) — Several Utah agencies are speaking out to clarify their lack of involvement in the situation involving American Fork Police Department and their arrest of a YouTube creator, after they have been receiving hundreds of calls about it.

American Fork Police Department (AFPD) is under fire after a YouTuber named Ben Schneider (who goes by the screen name Reckless Ben) posted a video accusing AFPD of misconduct and corruption. Schneider was arrested by AFPD for stalking in March over his involvement in an Oregon case involving purportedly stolen Lego collection.

The video garnered massive public attention and outcry against AFPD, prompting them to release information and footage related to the case in the name of transparency.

BACKGROUND: Conflict over purportedly stolen Legos leads to accusations of misconduct against American Fork Police Department

Now, Central Utah 911 and Salem Police Department have posted to social media to clarify that they are not involved in this matter, stating that they have received significant attention and high volumes of calls.

According to Central Utah 911, just on Saturday between 6 a.m. and 10 a.m., dispatch’s call volume jumped from 157 calls (their norm) to 424 calls. Reportedly, just during the busiest hour, they received 143 calls, and 138 of those were non-emergency calls. That’s a 170% increase when compared to a typical Saturday morning.

Central Utah 911 said that the same dispatchers answer non-emergency calls as 911 calls, and they were facing three times their normal workload. It would appear that the majority of calls were about the American Fork situation. They stated that they are not involved in the investigation and they cannot provide updates on the situation.

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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,” they wrote. “We understand people are passionate about this situation. We simply ask that those conversations be directed to the agency involved so our dispatchers can remain available for the emergencies that truly cannot wait.”

Additionally, Central Utah 911 reported that their dispatchers were yelled at, cursed at, threatened, and harassed over the issue. “We would also ask people to remember there are real people answering these phones.”

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Salem Police Department’s jurisdiction neighbors AFPD’s, and it appears that many people have confused Salem, Utah with Salem, Oregon–where the case of the allegedly stolen Lego collection originated. In the post, the police department clarified that difference.

“Because our department has received numerous inquiries, we want to officially clarify that the Salem UTAH police department has zero involvement in this matter,” Salem Police wrote. “The recent law enforcement actions seen in the videos occurred in a neighboring jurisdiction and were NOT handled by the Salem Police Department.”

Salem Police asked the public to direct any questions or comments about the situation to the appropriate agency. “Thank you for helping us keep our lines clear for local emergencies!” they wrote.

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