Legal Summary — BAM Franchising et al. v. Schneider et al.
Compiled from secondary reporting (Wikipedia, Dexerto, Brick Fanatics, Salt Lake Tribune, American Fork Citizen, Yahoo/In Touch) and party statements. The primary complaint PDF could not be opened during compilation (no network egress). All complaint allegations are the plaintiffs' unproven contentions. See
court-documents.mdfor how to obtain the filings, and../DISCLAIMER.mdfor scope.
Case identification
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Caption (reported) | BAM Franchising, LLC; Ammon McNeff; Matthew McNeff; Josh (Joshua) Johnson; Brandon Best; Baker Bricks, LLC v. Benjamin Schneider; Reckless Ben LLC; Bryan Mansell; Victor Nguyen; Does 1–15 (⚠ the community case page renders the lead plaintiff as "BAM Franchising, Inc." — entity suffix unverified against the docket) |
| Court | Utah Fourth Judicial District Court, Utah County (Provo) |
| Filing date | May 27, 2026 (verified complaint) |
| Case number | Unverified. Reported as 260402353 in news/aggregator summaries; the community case page (the only primary-style page reachable as of 2026-06-03) shows 260400253. Do not treat either as a typo of the other — confirm against the XChange docket. |
| Interim order | Temporary Restraining Order + preliminary-injunction hearing notice reportedly signed May 28, 2026 by Judge Tony F. Graf Jr. (⚠ judge name is from secondary reporting only, not a fetched court doc; the March search warrant was separately approved by Judge Roger W. Griffin — different proceeding) |
The 13 causes of action
Secondary sources (Dexerto, Wikipedia) report 13 counts, listed below. ⚠ Note a sourcing conflict: KSL summarizes a shorter set ("defamation, disparagement, conspiracy, stalking, trespass and IIED") and damages "over $300,000." The full list and precise count numbering should be verified against the filed complaint:
- Utah Pattern of Unlawful Activity (Utah RICO) — alleges a coordinated pattern of unlawful acts by defendants acting as an enterprise targeting plaintiffs.
- Defamation per se — statements so inherently damaging (e.g., accusing plaintiffs of theft/crime) that harm is presumed.
- Defamation — additional false statements of fact alleged to have injured reputations.
- Injurious falsehood (trade disparagement) — false statements alleged to have damaged the business's commercial interests.
- Civil conspiracy — defendants allegedly agreed and acted together to carry out the campaign.
- Tortious interference — alleged interference with plaintiffs' business/economic relationships.
- Civil stalking — alleged course of conduct causing fear/distress to individual plaintiffs (statutory civil stalking).
- Nuisance — alleged unreasonable interference with use/enjoyment of the store property/operations.
- Trespass — alleged unauthorized physical entry onto plaintiffs' property.
- Intentional infliction of emotional distress (IIED) — alleged outrageous conduct causing severe emotional distress.
- Unjust enrichment — defendants allegedly profited unfairly (videos / merchandise / donations) at plaintiffs' expense.
- Declaratory relief — seeks a court declaration of the parties' rights and obligations.
- Injunctive relief — seeks orders barring further alleged harassment, trespass, impersonation, fake documents, doxxing, signage, and related publications.
Relief / damages sought
- Monetary damages (compensatory; punitive/treble exposure is typical of Utah RICO and defamation-per-se claims). A specific dollar figure was not confirmable from secondary sources — obtain it from the filed complaint.
- Attorneys' fees and costs.
- Disgorgement of profits allegedly tied to the videos, merchandise, and fundraising.
- Injunctive relief (the basis for the May 28 TRO).
- Declaratory relief establishing the parties' rights.
Plaintiffs' framing (their contention)
BAM publicly characterized the defendants' conduct as a "coordinated, viral extortion campaign," stating it "will not reward individuals who use fake delivery uniforms, forged signatures, staged police encounters, and residential harassment to manufacture a storyline for profit." (Plaintiffs' allegation — unproven.)
Defense-side response (their contention)
- Schneider reportedly appeared on The H3 Podcast the day the suit was filed, joking it "guaranteed him at least two more years of YouTube content," and continued posting videos.
- He disputes the stalking framing, characterizing his actions as serving legal papers and investigating the allegedly missing collection.
- The Mansell/Schneider side maintains the ~$200,000 collection consigned in Nov 2023 was never returned after the Nov 2024 ownership change and store repossession.
- A GoFundMe for the Mansell family raised six figures.
Related criminal matter (distinct from this civil suit)
Schneider was arrested in March 2026 by the American Fork PD and charged with stalking,
targeted residential picketing, criminal trespass, and disorderly conduct. A search warrant was
executed at his Airbnb; the warrant return reported no items seized. These are accusations;
he is presumed innocent. See ../police-controversy.md.
Established vs. alleged
- Reasonably established: a verified complaint was filed May 27, 2026 in Utah Fourth District Court with 13 causes of action; a TRO issued ~May 28; the Nov 2023 consignment existed; corporate repossessed the store; Schneider was arrested and charged in March 2026; a six-figure GoFundMe ran.
- Allegation only (unadjudicated): the "extortion/harassment campaign," forged signatures, fake uniforms, staged encounters (BAM's contentions); the "theft" of the collection (Mansell/Schneider's contention); whether the consignment was "unauthorized."