Why Ben Orchestrated The Break-In At Sammy's House In "SouthLAnd"

I noticed upon checking the stats for this blog that several people have searched the internet with (roughly) this question:

     *WHY DID BEN ORCHESTRATE THE BREAK-IN AT SAMMY'S HOUSE?*

If you don't know the answer to this question, then most of the last part of Season 5 of "SouthLAnd" would make no sense to you -- at least in regard to the characters of Ben Sherman and Sammy Bryant. 

So, here is what happened:

Earlier in Season 5, there is an incident where Sammy and Tammi have a confrontation while Sammy and Ben are on duty.  Sammy gets a bit physical with Tammi, because she starts beating on him.  In my opinion, his reaction is not out-of-line, but it is pretty dramatic. Tammi's boyfriend manages to capture the whole thing with a video camera.  As you may know, Sammy is in the midst of a heated custody battle with Tammi over little Nate, so the incident -- as caught on tape -- would not look good to a family law judge.  So, in the heat of the moment, and in his worry about his son's future, Sammy grabs the camera out of the boyfriend's hands, gets in the squad car with Ben, and drives off.

Later in the episode, we learn that Tammi has filed assault charges against Sammy and that there will be an I.A. investigation.  Ben tells Sammy not to worry.  "I've got your back," he tells him.  Full of his usual Ben Sherman confidence, he assures Sammy that there is no way Tammi is going to win this one, because it's going to be her crazy-ass word against the word of two cops.  And, hey, who are the investigators going to believe in that situation?  So, Sammy and Ben put their heads together and come up with a story to tell I.A.  A story that is not entirely factual.

As the show progresses, though, Sammy's conscience starts to bother him.  He tells Ben about his guilty feelings over lying to I.A.  This worries Ben.  Sammy also tells Ben that he still has the videotape.  He has not been able to bring himself to destroy it.  He just keeps watching it, over and over again. This worries Ben some more.  He says to Sammy something to this effect, "I need to know if you are going to throw me under the bus."  Sammy reassures him that he does not need to worry, but Ben continues to worry.

In fact, Ben gets himself so worked up that he arranges to have his new girlfriend Elena's rather dim-witted brother Chris break into Sammy's house to steal the videotape.  Ben apparently tells Chris to make the whole thing look gang-related.  He tells Chris to do the job when nobody will be home at Sammy's house.  Chris, though, being rather dim-witted -- and, apparently, unlucky -- manages to screw things up so that he encounters Nate and his babysitter, resulting in the babysitter being injured and Nate himself being endangered.  Ben seems rather sorry over this unfortunate turn of events.  But, not nearly sorry enough.  The asshole.  (calming self down here)

Side Note:  Ben does all of this really stupidly for as bright as he's supposed to be.  I mean, if I were going to hire somebody to break into someone's house -- especially if that someone had been a detective -- I would hire a smart person.  Wouldn't you?  It would probably have been better if Ben had just done the thing himself, wearing some sort of a disguise. 

Anyhow, that is why and how Ben arranged the break-in at Sammy's house.  And in the Season 5 Finale, we see him trying to justify himself to Sammy.  And that scene tells you everything you need to know about what has happened to the soul of Ben Sherman.