Super Dell enters no contest plea

DRAPER — Dell Buck Schanze pleaded no contest Tuesday to a class B misdemeanor charge of creating a public nuisance in connection with a paragliding incident near I-15, then outside the courtroom gleefully kissed the feet of a woman who volunteered to pay his $300 fine.

Draper Municipal Justice Judge Daniel Bertch imposed a 30-day jail sentence, but suspended that and put Schanze on probation for a year as part of a plea agreement. The judge also ordered Schanze to get an "intake assessment" at Sandy Counseling and undergo any counseling that might be recommended.

Bertch repeatedly emphasized this was not a mental health evaluation.

A separate charge of disorderly conduct, an infraction that carries no jail time, was dismissed.

A no contest plea is not an admission of guilt, but is an acknowledgement that prosecutors have sufficient evidence for a case and it is treated as a guilty plea. The plea was worked out by Draper City Prosecutor Melanie Serassio and Schanze's defense attorney, Michael Bassett.

Outside the courthouse, a cheerful and smiling Schanze objected to the charges and blamed Draper City for ruining his business and maligning him in the press.

"Obviously, the whole thing is a total crock of crud. It's stupid," he said. "I absolutely refused to plead guilty because I'm not guilty."

Draper police charged Schanze in connection with a May 24 incident in which a pilot flying a powered paraglider flew near and over I-15 during morning rush hour traffic.

Schanze said he was paragliding that day, but insists he did nothing wrong. He said he talked to the Federal Aviation Administration "for hours," but he does not believe that agency will charge him with anything.

Dimple Dell resident Leslye Arrowsmith, who said she didn't know Schanze and only happened to be in court Tuesday to support a relative facing a misdemeanor charge, lashed out at the media for, she said, picking on Schanze.

She offered to pay his fine and, upon hearing that, Schanze knelt down and kissed her shoes

In an unrelated case, Schanze is due in 3rd District Court in West Jordan on June 28 for sentencing on a class B misdemeanor charge of making a false written statement and a class C misdemeanor charge of reckless driving.

After a three-day trial in May, a jury found Schanze not guilty of a more serious charge: class A misdemeanor threatening or using a dangerous weapon.

All those charges stem from a May 21, 2005, incident in which three Draper men followed Schanze to the Point of the Mountain and confronted him because, they said, he had been speeding in their neighborhood.

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E-mail: lindat@desnews.com