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OREM — A BYU student charged with operating a meth lab is now facing more legal trouble.
Bryce Cazier, 22, was charged Wednesday with two counts of theft, a class B misdemeanor, in Orem Justice Court. The charges stem from an alleged shoplifting incident at a state liquor store.
According to a police report, the manager of the store, 1688 N. State, called police on Friday to report that employees had detained a man who had shoplifted liquor during a previous visit to the store.
"What we found when we got there is that the employees told us that the man they had detained had stolen from them previously, they had it on video,” Orem Police Lt. Craig Martinez said, “and when the man came back in again, they detained him until we got there."
Cazier was cited and released.
“Generally, when we are called after the fact — meaning it didn’t just happen, we didn’t stop him in the process, this happened days before — where it is a class B misdemeanor that is usually the route we take is a citation,” Martinez said.
Wednesday, Orem prosecutors filed the two counts of theft against Cazier.
Cazier was charged Nov. 10 in 4th District Court with having precursors or equipment for a clandestine laboratory, a first-degree felony. He posted bail after he was arrested on Nov. 12.
Provo police, the Utah Major Crimes Task Force and the Drug Enforcement Agency believe Cazier, a BYU student studying Spanish, had a meth lab set up inside his room at the Riviera Apartments, 1505 N. Canyon Road, next to the BYU campus.
Cazier told his attorney he was actually just making soap and not anything illegal, but a search warrant indicated Cazier was in possession of meth making chemicals. Drain cleaner, lighter fluid, acetone, denatured alcohol and various empty blister packs of items containing pseudoephedrine were some of the items collected by investigators.
Attorney Jere Reneer said he is aware of the new charges against his client. The alleged theft incident occurred before his client's arrest in the meth case, he said, but declined to elaborate except to say the two cases aren't related.
Cazier is scheduled to be in court for a preliminary hearing Dec. 10 on the felony charge. With the new charges from the shoplifting case, prosecutors could ask the judge to revoke his bond, which could potentially put him back in jail.
