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SALT LAKE CITY — A man who police say was outfitting himself with exclusive University of Utah athletic wear is facing criminal charges accusing him of stealing those items directly from the athletes themselves.
Brian Mbogo Mbeere, 22, was charged Friday in 3rd District Court with theft and four counts of burglary of a building, third-degree felonies; and four more counts of theft, a class B misdemeanor.
The investigation began July 11 when police were called to the Health Phys Ed and Recreation Building, 250 S. 1850 East, on a report of a man stealing items from the men's locker room. The man was seen on surveillance cameras using a broomstick to prop open doors so he could enter them later.
When police spotted Mbeere and confronted him, he allegedly told them that he was a University of Utah football player "and that his ID and belongings were at the Marriott Library. (An officer) observed that the pants Mbeere was wearing belonged to a U. of U. athlete who wore number 32. Mbeere said his football number was 32," according to charging documents.
Another officer who works closely with the football team arrived at the scene and confirmed that Mbeere is not a member of the team. Police later learned that Mbeere is not even a registered student at the university. Officers then searched Mbeere's backpack which had a tag with the name and number of a player from the U. baseball team, according to the charges. That player had previously reported his backpack as stolen. The athletic pants Mbeere was wearing were determined to have been taken from a second baseball player.
The next day, police were called to investigate a suspicious person at the Huntsman Basketball Facility, 294 S. 1850 East. The facilities manager told officers that he "located a couple of lockers full of items, that it was believed Mbeere had been sleeping on the fifth-floor terrace of the basketball facility for some time, and that he suspected Mbeere used the lockers to store all of the stolen items," the charges state.
Among the 28 items found in the lockers allegedly being used by Mbeere were two pairs of Nike Air Jordan shoes reported stolen from a member of the U. men's basketball team. Other items found in the lockers included university athletic apparel, a massage gun and cleats.
Mbeere was located again on campus and questioned a second time.
"Mbeere reported being homeless and sleeping outdoors near the school bookstore and the Student Union Building. Mbeere admitted to spending a couple of nights at the basketball facility, to sleeping on the roof garden on the fifth floor, and to using the athletes' food pantry. Mbeere admitted that he placed the stolen items in the HPER (Health Phys Ed and Recreation Building) North lockers and that the black hoodie he was wearing did not belong to him," according to the charges.
Police searched another backpack Mbeere had with him and found more clothing and a PAC-12 gymnastics ring that belonged to an assistant coach of the U. gymnastics team, the charges state.
As detectives continued to investigate, they learned that by early July, Mbeere had been "spotted multiple times in the HPER facility wearing Utah athletics gear," to the point that managers for the facility "began to suspect that Mbeere was living in the facility and taking food, gear and clothing from the area," according to the charges.
"Mbeere had been posing as a student-athlete to gain access to the men's basketball locker room and gym, where he stole additional items. Mbeere gained access by telling staff/student-athletes that he had left his phone and keys and that 'his fingerprint wasn't working,' so they would let him in. They were alerted by custodial that Mbeere was sleeping on the fifth floor of the basketball facility."
Changing documents further allege that when administrators went back and did random checks of surveillance video, they "found Mbeere was always coming and going throughout the entire building" and that he "was almost always in different color clothing that only U. athletes received and was rarely in the same outfit twice."
Police believe Mbeere may have been hanging around the sporting facilities since May 2023, the charges state.
U. Police Capt. Brian Lohrke said some of the facilities Mbeere was allegedly accessing are used by multiple departments, including student-athletes as well as the public, which presents unique challenges for security. He says police are working with the athletic and recreation departments to address those security issues.
In September, Mbeere was charged in a second case with unlawfully possessing a bank card, a third-degree felony; and trespassing, a class B misdemeanor.
After being banned from the U. campus for the prior incidents, he was spotted on campus again and was found to have a woman's credit card that was reported as stolen, according to charging documents.
