WEST JORDAN, Utah -- "Super" Dell Schanze has pleaded guilty to speeding and begun trial on charges that he brandished a gun at neighbors angry about the speeding and that he lied about it.

Outside the court Wednesday, the former computer store owner complained about living in a state that "will issue you a concealed weapons permit then arrest you the first time you use it."

Schanze, 36, of Sandy is charged with "threatening with or using a dangerous weapon in a fight or quarrel," a class A misdemeanor.

Prosecutors say after speeding through a Draper neighborhood on May 21, 2005, Schanze brandished a handgun as he was confronted by several angry residents who had followed him to a hang-gliding park.

He allegedly pulled a Glock 10mm handgun from his pocket when one resident threatened to break the tail lights of Schanze's black Jaguar. Prosecutor Christopher Bown said Schanze overreacted.

"He pulled the weapon when their was no self defense," Bown told the six-person jury during opening statements.

Defense attorney James "Mitch" Vilos called it "a case of a man taking reasonable precautions to protect himself, two children and his property from three angry strangers, who were acting like vigilantes and taking the law into their own hands."

Vilos said Schanze showed the gun, "not to threaten. It was to be ready to react."

At the point Schanze pulled the gun, Clinton Sanderson was at least 20 feet away, according to testimony.

Sanderson testified he dropped the rock as soon as he turned and saw Schanze holding the gun over his heart. When police arrived, Schanze insisted he had not brandished a gun. In a written statement, he claimed he produced only a cell phone with which he offered to call police. He later told news reporters that he had showed a gun.

For making those apparently inconsistent remarks, Schanze is charged with providing a false statement to police, a class B misdemeanor.

Schanze was also charged with reckless driving, a class B misdemeanor, but prior to the trial, he pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of speeding, a class C misdemeanor, for driving 50 mph in a 25 mph zone.

During a break, Schanze said, "I'll plead guilty to anything I'm guilty of."

------

Information from: The Salt Lake Tribune, http://www.sltrib.com

This story appeared in The Daily Herald on page C2.

Related

• 'Superdell' Schanze running for Saratoga Springs mayor