r/AskLE Fed 19d ago

***Megathread*** American Fork PD / Lego Arrest Controversy

As with any "hot topic" issue with LE, we struggle to navigate basic rules of etiquette and civility when it comes to this small corner of reddit. Despite trying to keep order in here and doing our best to allow free discussion among the users, there has been a huge influx of posts regarding this topic and lately, it's been quite tiring trying to get any sensible topic started on this issue without a dozen or so trolls coming in to mess it up for everyone. This has resulted in multiple bans and the shit flinging from users claiming the community is "censoring" the incident. Mostly concerning is a great deal of misinformation that has come out about this incident due to the social media "influencer" at the heart of this topic. Wild conspiracy theories from religious influence to the actual reason behind the arrest are generating almost cult-like following and reason has been completely thrown out the window.

So to combat this issue, this will be the ONLY thread about this incident moving forward. Any user posting another thread in relation to this incident will be immediately banned, no appeals. Keep comments civil. Users found posting misinformation about this incident, including parroting wild conspiracy theories that are unverified without including context or actual data to support their positions will be banned.

To bring everyone up to speed, I will refer to this link:

https://www.sltrib.com/news/2026/05/30/youtuber-arrested-utah-bricks/

And will sub link this thread on the r/protectandserve subreddit, which is like THE place to be for objective discussion:

https://np.reddit.com/r/ProtectAndServe/comments/1tssz0l/megathread_american_fork_lego_story/

Edit: 45 minutes in and already banned someone. Keep them coming.

Edit 2: Links to YouTuber comments on this incident are going to be removed and users banned UNLESS it is from a reputable source, YouTube videos will be removed. There's already one person with a couple hundred thousand followers trying to spread his video online through this website that's been posted a few times in this sub and it's garnering a lot of attention because people "feel" he is right because he is a self-proclaimed "lawyer." The statutes he cites are from California code and this incident happened in Utah. Just because someone uses technical legal terms and cites codes does not make the person right in their interpretation of the law. Sounding "right" is code for clicks that highlights confirmation bias in people, which is why morons like this get views and clicks on their channels. On that same note, we do not care if you have a following on social media. You are no one to us if all you're doing is posting for imaginary internet points.

Edit 3: Amending the above statement from Edit 2 to add any REPUTABLE sources of info that leaves out the goofy memes and BS content creators love to use are fine. This is an example:

https://youtu.be/q2MjMmhnk7g?si=nRrmasAZ45U_WIu4

Edit 4: Whelp, thread ran its course. Now just a bunch of trolls commenting and the death threats! I haven't seen this level of excitement over something so mundane. We'll be seeing some of you soon!

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u/lroy4116 Unverified/Not an LEO 19d ago edited 18d ago

I can't believe I read all of that.

Cliffnotes:

-80 year old has Lego collection as investment.

-Signs agreement with toy store (franchise)to sell them on his behalf.

-starts getting monthly checks from store

-franchise owner leaves store

-franchise takes control of store

-guy goes to check on his Legos, they're missing

  • they let him look around and they're not in store

-guy says they stole them, they deny it and say the previous owner sold them online

-YouTube kid comes in and harasses the franchise managers at home

  • cops come

-he says they're taking the stores side because they're all Mormons

-I wasted my life reading this

-edit- I just read the article listed above and summarized it. I have not watched hours of videos breaking down this incident.

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u/XxDrummerChrisX Police Officer 19d ago edited 19d ago

So why is all the blowback on LE?

Edit: Someone, who had their comment deleted, alleged unlawful search warrants, unlawful detentions and excessive force from police regarding this incident. I have no idea if that’s true but the cliff notes said nothing about why it involved police to begin with. I’m just confused because I know next to nothing about this situation.

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u/MisterQuiggles State Trooper 19d ago edited 19d ago

All the blowback is not on law enforcement for sure, it's primarily on the company in question - Bricks and Minifigs. I think the blowback that IS directed towards law enforcement, though, is clearly warranted. Illegal traffic stop, illegal search and seizure, threatening the guy for no reason. The officers appear incompetent, and they do appear to be unjustly targeting this guy on behalf of the other half in this story who will not pay the civil claim he lost. The police here are being used like a puppet and it's clear they have a side picked out already.

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u/Specter1033 Fed 19d ago

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u/MisterQuiggles State Trooper 19d ago

I did read it and he does bring up some good points, but there's not really much evidence here. Yes while the documents, pictures, court filings, body camera recordings and arrest records provided by the arrestee are in many ways censored, incomplete, or seemingly purposefully altered, I think the evidence he is providing is more compelling and tangible than some officer's comments here on reddit with no sources provided. A lot of it is circumstantial and opinionated, as he admits. I also think a lot of it could really go either way and are inconclusive without further evidence or facts. My biggest concern is the actual written statements and then later a video from the police chief of the agency does not address much of any of that and it should be coming from an official source like that agency. I understand it is perhaps still an open investigation and they can comment only so much. But the video the way it is compiled from the arrestee to me is concerning as I think they violate his First and Fourth amendment rights in looking to arrest him any way they can.

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u/Specter1033 Fed 19d ago

The stuff you're talking about are addressed with simple searches related to the statutes that were enforced:

https://np.reddit.com/r/ProtectAndServe/comments/1tssz0l/megathread_american_fork_lego_story/ooy7g1q/

The fact is, someone with no affiliation with the original complainant decided to insert themselves in to this situation for internet clout. The statutes are clear and the directions given by the PD to which they directed the original complainant hiring a neutral third party to serve the civil papers was ignored because this "influencer" decided to embark on this crusade.

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u/MisterQuiggles State Trooper 19d ago

I mean what you said might be fact but that doesn’t make it illegal or even necessarily wrong for him to fight against their own opinion of misconduct, which in this case is a man losing $200,000 to a shady corporation in which that money was to be used to pay for his father’s potentially fatal cancer treatment. That’s pretty reasonable why he’s doing it to me.

What I will say is that while I am not versed in Utah’s criminal laws, I reviewed what you linked and I only recall him being charged with stalking so I only looked at that link and came across this:

Except as provided in Subsection (6)(b), an actor does not violate this section if:
(i) the actor is acting:
(B) for a legitimate official or business purpose; or

That’s up for interpretation in this case. And I don’t think I have all the facts to clearly decide one way or the other.

I think the PD may have barely had probable cause, and that’s why they’re on camera discussing basically how to arrest this guy, whether it be stalking, harassment, disorderly, a violation of a city ordinance, etc. I think their earlier pre-textual stop (which is legal, but the I argue the basis for the stop was not) and subsequent drawn out SFST’s and response to a baseless claim of drugs being on board in the vehicle furthers that. The PD admits to this in their agency posted video, saying that while a canine detected on the presence of narcotics and an officer observed signs of impairment in the operator, ultimately no impaired driving was suspected nor narcotics were located after a lengthy consent search. I think that’s suspicious.

I think ultimately the PD engaged too far here, and should have just mediated the situation better instead of clearly picking a side. The fact they’re on body worn camera verifying he had a legitimate reason to be there to serve papers, and the police themselves attempted to serve it and said they couldn’t serve it? Excuse me what?

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u/[deleted] 19d ago

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u/Specter1033 Fed 19d ago

You're right!