'Super Dell' Schanze charged with brandishing a firearm
Misdemeanor count: The alleged incident happened after the computer store magnate was confronted by angry neighbors about his driving
By Michael N. Westley
The Salt Lake Tribune  

"Super Dell" Schanze - a self-proclaimed gun rights activist and a computer store magnate - was charged Tuesday with brandishing a gun during an altercation between him and a group of Draper residents May 21.
  Witnesses told police they saw Schanze driving east along Draper's Steep Mountain Drive at speeds of up to 75 mph, according to the charges. Three residents hopped in their cars and followed Schanze to the Point of the Mountain Paragliding Park, where they confronted him about his driving. As the argument grew, one of the residents grabbed a rock and threatened to smash the taillights of Schanze's black Jaguar, the charges state.
  A concealed weapon permit holder, Schanze then drew a handgun from his front pants pocket and pointed it at one of his accusers, according to a criminal complaint filed in 3rd District Court. The man with the rock called 911, according to Draper police.
  Schanze faces one class A misdemeanor count of threatening with, or using a dangerous weapon in a fight or quarrel, and a class B misdemeanor count of reckless driving.
  On May 21, Schanze told police he did not brandish his weapon, but Tuesday he acknowledged to The Salt   Lake Tribune that he had made his pursuers aware he had a gun. He said use of the gun during the confrontation was warranted for the safety of himself and his 8-year-old daughter who was with him.
  "They decided to be really nice once they knew I was armed. Their whole personalities changed. It was amazing," Schanze said.
  Draper police officers arrived at the park to find Schanze surrounded by residents. Police recovered a Glock 10 mm handgun from the front pocket of his pants and found another gun strapped to his leg.
   Prosecutors filed the charges after interviewing more than 12 people about the incident, five of whom testified about Schanze's alleged reckless driving.
  But Schanze maintains his innocence.
  "This was a very simple case of freakin' psycho road ragers," Schanze said. "They didn't like how I was driving and they came after me."
  Schanze declined to discuss the events that led up to the altercation but said he thought the situation ended peacefully.
   "No shots were fired. We had no issues after that," Schanze said.
  The filing of charges Tuesday came as a surprise. Schanze had expected police to pursue   a criminal complaint against his assailants.
  "It's just astronomically, ludicrously insane to tell the community that it's not OK to defend yourself," he said.
  In addition to owning a string of computer stores, Schanze owns a gun store, shooting range and flying sports outfit. An avid paraglider, Schanze frequents the gliding park at the south end of the Salt Lake Valley, which is where he was headed when he was confronted.
  If convicted of the charges, Schanze could lose his concealed weapons permit.
  [email protected]

Glad I don't live in Utah. Fucking busy-body people can't mind their own fucking business.

Paragliding park?

Anyone know what the real story is on this?

uh why do you chase down someone for driving like a ass seems like nothing good is gonna hapen

He must have deep pockets if he was able to conceal a Glock 10MM in them

So let's see -

I'm driving on a public road - speeding a little but hit no one and cause no accidents - when an angry mob of self-appointed traffic cops chase me down and surround me, and when I tell them to mind their business one of them picks up a rock and threatens me with it?

It seems to me that by "brandishing" his pistol, Schanze accomplished exactly what he should have - he stopped the commission of a crime in progress and kept anyone from getting hurt and property from getting damaged.

If you don't like the way I drive, feel free to get my license number and report me to the police.  But if you try and "take the law into your own hands," corner me threaten me with a rock, you're probably going to be eligible to receive a free car wash...

Quoted: Glad I don't live in Utah. Fucking busy-body people can't mind their own fucking business.

You're right.  I'm certain this never would have happened in any other state.  

He will walk.

Sound like the neighborhood is tired of people demonstrating reckless disregard for their safety on a residential road. Those people were idiots, they never should have threatened him with a rock, they should have armed themselves first and out-gunned him. If the asshat can protect his reckless driving at gunpoint, people ought to be able to protect their own lives with the same force. I've had to jump for my life a couple times, I don't remember having time to write down license numbers, I do remember the driver and passenger laughing as they went by.

Chase me down, jump out and start spouting off at the mouth, then pick-up a weapon, expect to get piped.

Morons.


Sheep.

Uh... I thought cops had to witness a traffic violation in order for a person to be ticketed for it (unless it was on videotape or something), and people suck at estimating speeds. I've seen someone call the cops to report someone going "50 MPH up a hill" (according to their estimates) when in reality it was closer to 20.

sounds like he can afford lawyers that will rape his neighbors

tag

Quoted: He will walk.

I rather hope so.

My "impression" was he probably WAS being less than "reasonable" in his driving "practices" - that is phoquing NO excuse to threaten property or health/life - call the POLICE - morons! (Or BUST his taillight when he's NOT PRESENT - if you're an asshat - w/a note that says "drive safer and accidents like this won't be commonplace" ) But do NOT threaten a PERSON or his KID. EVEN if they ARE being an asshat. Sounds like they'll ALL get what they deserve for their stoopidity[sic] the CHL holder for driving his Jag like an ass (if he was) will have to spend a LOT of $$ to prove he did NOT "brandish" - he will sue the NEIGHBORS for being asshats and THEY will have to spend a lot of $$ to NOT be totally "taken to the cleaners"... and hopefully HE will stop driving recklessly, and THEY will refrain from "taking the law into their own hands"

But if someone could say that he does NOT "typically" drive like an ass... who KNOWS him... well then hang the mob!

Quoted: Uh... I thought cops had to witness a traffic violation in order for a person to be ticketed for it (unless it was on videotape or something), and people suck at estimating speeds. I've seen someone call the cops to report someone going "50 MPH up a hill" (according to their estimates) when in reality it was closer to 20.

A person can be charged with a driving offense the cops don't see. They would  have to fill out a report and get the magistrate to sign a warrant. Can be done. Never seen it done.

Oh, and what a bunch of BS. If I was surronded and somebody was threating me or my property with damage I would draw down also. But from the sound of it he never even took the weapon out.

Both sides did dumb stuff.

Schanze for driving recklessly to a PARAGLIDING PARK (w/ his kid)

And these neighbors for chasing him.

Call the police and let them sort it out.

CRC

the guy has a felony fuck him he shouldnt even own a gun

Quoted: the guy has a felony fuck him he shouldnt even own a gun

Details?

I think a rock can be a deadly weapon, and seeing as they followed him to confront him, well maybe just maybe, if he did pull the gun it was justified, even if he didn't pull it and he just said he had one, I think thats justified too ads a rock can be increadibly deadly when used as a weapon. If I got surrounded by people who wanted to bitch about my driving and someone picked up a rock, I'd take that as a threat. Still need more info though. But right now I don't see a problemwith what he did, showing the gun or even just saying he was armed.

Don't bring a rock to a gun fight.

Quoted: the guy has a felony fuck him he shouldnt even own a gun

Details they always forget the details.

Quoted: the guy has a felony fuck him he shouldnt even own a gun

If the guy has a felony, he WOULDN'T have a VALID CHL. Maybe you should think about that. And just FYI, you CAN get your rights restored if a judge finds it appropriate to do so.

And one last thing, have you ever been hit in the head with a big ass rock? I have. It can be quite painful, and can even kill you easy enough. Hell, if a guy can get charged with Assault with a Deadly Weapon for hitting people on the head with a plastic "WET FLOOR" sign, a rock should be even more obvious as one.

Quoted: the guy has a felony fuck him he shouldnt even own a gun

Ahh...We don't know that.

Can anyone in here say they wouldn't "draw down" if an angry mob surrounded you and your daughter and proceeded to pick up rocks to throw at you and/or your property?
This is stupid.

75 MPH, what was the speed limit?  Were talking 75, legal on some roads in some states, not 175.

And people chased him down for this?  And admittedly grabbed a rock and threatened.  They are lucky they are alive.  Mob mentality.  One person would not have chased, but get a few people together and they do stupid things.  And how long did these three residents in their cars chase after him before he they confronted him.  And how did they force him to stop?  This sounds like he should have been "brandishing" his firearm from the moment they stopped him.

There may of course be more to this story, but the guy with a rock in his hand called 911?  Lets see... "Hello, 911?  Yeah, I have a rock I was about to throw at this guy and his car, but now he pulled an evil gun on me so can you send the police to arrest him?"

Quoted: Glad I don't live in Utah. Fucking busy-body people can't mind their own fucking business.

Yet you live in Wisconsin where there's no CCW permitted????

Quoted: Quoted: Glad I don't live in Utah. Fucking busy-body people can't mind their own fucking business. Yet you live in Wisconsin where there's no CCW permitted????

No kidding, of course it kinda semi-sorta is. We can CCW on private property, and if yer willing to risk it, the supreme court gave us basicly an affirmative defense type situation. Sucks but for now it's all we got.

Quoted: Can anyone in here say they wouldn't "draw down" if an angry mob surrounded you and your daughter and proceeded to pick up rocks to throw at you and/or your property? This is stupid.

+1




Who the heck is this SUper Dell anyway?

Mob surrounds me and my six year old, threatens us with rocks, (read: deadly weapon)...I'm afraid I'd have capped them.

Dead men tell no tales.  

Details are a bit sketchy right now, but here's the "Readers Digest" summary of events.

There's a place in Draper Utah that's popular with paragliders.  Mr. Schanze was heading there with his little girl and some neighbors thought he was speeding too fast through their neighborhood on his way to the paraglider area.  It's quite possible this is true, but has no bearing on the rest of the scenario.

A few neighbors (at least three) jump in their cars and go racing after him.  They corner him where he parked his vehicle (his little girl is in the car).  The small mob then begins assailing him verbally, and at one point one of the aggressors grabs a large rock and approaches either Mr. Schanze or the car, threatening to throw the large rock.

At that point Mr. Schanze somehow brandished the gun (I don't know if he pointed it at them or not), and the mob quickly dispersed (and then called the police).  Apparently the aggressors are now very sheepish about giving testimony, which doesn't make them look very reputable.


Personally, his speeding, whether it happened or not, is a moot point because he was parked at the time of the confrontation.  The community neighbors didn't have the authority to go after him like that.

If someone picks up a rock and threatens to throw it at my car with my little girl in it, I consider that a threat to her physical safety.  I'm betting that Mr. Schanze walks.

I think that both sides handled this situation very poorly.

Dell owns a computer store chain and he also owns a gun store and paragliding or skydiving business.

Problem is, Dell has a big mouth and lots of money.  If it had happened to anyone else I would believe their story in a heartbeat, but Dell....I just don't know, I wasn't there.

Quoted: Quoted: Can anyone in here say they wouldn't "draw down" if an angry mob surrounded you and your daughter and proceeded to pick up rocks to throw at you and/or your property? This is stupid. +1 Who the heck is this SUper Dell anyway?

"Super Dell" is how Mr. Schanze is generally known my the Utah community.  He owns a chain of computer stores as well as a gunstore.  He's famous for acting arrogant and a little obnoxious in his television commercials.

I've read accounts that he's actually a pretty down to earth guy in real life, but I don't know personally.

Quoted: Quoted: Can anyone in here say they wouldn't "draw down" if an angry mob surrounded you and your daughter and proceeded to pick up rocks to throw at you and/or your property? This is stupid. +1 Who the heck is this SUper Dell anyway?

+1

Gotta love the part where "they were fed up with him driving like a dangerous moron, so they all jumped in their vehicles and drove like even worse dangerous morons to catch up to him and confront him".   That's brilliant.

Quoted: Anyone know what the real story is on this?

I'v met him a few times, he is VERY pro-rkba.  After he opened Totally Awesome Computers, he opened a gun store (Totally Awesome Guns) and a para-gliding shop.

He is a bit quirky in person, but nothing too strange.

He also has a love for fast cars.

Quoted: Details are a bit sketchy right now, but here's the "Readers Digest" summary of events. There's a place in Draper Utah that's popular with paragliders.  Mr. Schanze was heading there with his little girl and some neighbors thought he was speeding too fast through their neighborhood on his way to the paraglider area.  It's quite possible this is true, but has no bearing on the rest of the scenario. A few neighbors (at least three) jump in their cars and go racing after him.  They corner him where he parked his vehicle (his little girl is in the car).  The small mob then begins assailing him verbally, and at one point one of the aggressors grabs a large rock and approaches either Mr. Schanze or the car, threatening to throw the large rock. At that point Mr. Schanze somehow brandished the gun (I don't know if he pointed it at them or not), and the mob quickly dispersed (and then called the police).  Apparently the aggressors are now very sheepish about giving testimony, which doesn't make them look very reputable. Personally, his speeding, whether it happened or not, is a moot point because he was parked at the time of the confrontation.  The community neighbors didn't have the authority to go after him like that. If someone picks up a rock and threatens to throw it at my car with my little girl in it, I consider that a threat to her physical safety.  I'm betting that Mr. Schanze walks.

+1

Quoted: Quoted: Anyone know what the real story is on this? I'v met him a few times, he is VERY pro-rkba.  After he opened Totally Awesome Computers, he opened a gun store (Totally Awesome Guns) and a para-gliding shop. He is a bit quirky in person, but nothing too strange. He also has a love for fast cars.

AHHHH...I've been in his gun store! Totally Awesome Guns.

Link to his gun store website

Those guys who chased after him, and especially the guy with the rock, are stoooopid.  Hopefully Super Dell will walk, although he did not handle the situation perfectly.

Yet another example of why it pays to carry pepper spray.  You can use nondeadly force to protect your property.

Quoted: Those guys who chased after him, and especially the guy with the rock, are stoooopid.  Hopefully Super Dell will walk, although he did not handle the situation perfectly. Yet another example of why it pays to carry pepper spray.  You can use nondeadly force to protect your property.

How would he know that they were intent on damaging only his property.  If a group of less-than-rational aggressors are yelling at me and one picks up a rock and holds it in a threatening manner, I'm going to assume that they mean me bodily harm.  If they approach my car with my little girl in it, threatening to throw a rock, I'm going to assume that they could mean bodily harm to my little girl.

The aggressor claims that the only intended to throw the rock at the car lights, but he could easily be making that claim up to cover his butt.  He doesn't deny that he threatened to throw the rock.  Who knows what he was really saying at the time, if he really said anything at all.  Besides, with a group of yelling aggressors, how would Mr. Schanze know what this particular one was saying?

hmmm, how do they know if he was doing 75mph?  This story says nothing about these guys having their own radar gun, or other difinitive method of determining Schanze's speed *prior* the them chasing him.

At the first sign of a rock in the hands of one of these guys, I think a reasonable man could assume that his life and the life of his child was in some jeopardy.  

Quoted: Quoted: Anyone know what the real story is on this? I'v met him a few times, he is VERY pro-rkba.  After he opened Totally Awesome Computers, he opened a gun store (Totally Awesome Guns) and a para-gliding shop. He is a bit quirky in person, but nothing too strange. He also has a love for fast cars.

FWIW... "his" gun store is a joke... and the guys that run the place are not particualrly helpful. They flat out lied to my brother about an AK he was looking at buying. I think the gun store is actually is brothers endevor. I dont vist the place anymore, after having poor service on many occasions. IMHO the gunstore is just his way of getting NFA fun-toys without having to actually own them personally.

He does have a very pro-RKBA stance, and is pretty quirky from what I've seen of him. I dont know him personally or anything. His computer stores are pretty sucessful.

Not only does he love fast cars, but he loves to speed and drive agressively, and has been ticketed for that before. He has a Jag and a Hummer... along with a lead foot and a "the law dosnt apply to me" attitude. He likes to babble about "road ragers"... usually people that complain about his reckless driving. I dont know if he has been convicted of any felonies, but he has had a few run-ins with the law before... one back in 1995, IIRC.

Everyone involved here probably screwed up. But I've personally been down the street in question. Its in a residential area, speed limit 25mph, IIRC. Fairly strait and no stop signs for some distance. Wouldnt suprise me if he was speeding in the area.

Homeowners made a mistake of cornering and threatening him... he probably wasnt justified to use deadly force.. but may habe been justified in drawing his gun. No one knows the details except Dale and the homeowners and witnesses in the area. It will be hashed out in court.

He made a big mistake in not pressing charges.  If he was threatened with a deadly weapon, He should have talked to the police immediately.

The driving and this guys demeanor are totaly beside the point.  As far as I'm concerned the only thing to be kept track of here is the weapon charge issue as it could be used as pesidence in future court trials.

He was justified in using deadly force.  It has nothing to do with the real or testified reasons of the assailent.  It is entirely up to the point of view of the person on the other end.  People have been convicted of armed robbery when totaly unarmed because they made the clerk/teller BELIEVE that they were armed.

That being said,  I think this guy really needs to examine his driving and attitude.

Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Anyone know what the real story is on this? I'v met him a few times, he is VERY pro-rkba.  After he opened Totally Awesome Computers, he opened a gun store (Totally Awesome Guns) and a para-gliding shop. He is a bit quirky in person, but nothing too strange. He also has a love for fast cars. FWIW... "his" gun store is a joke... and the guys that run the place are not particualrly helpful. They flat out lied to my brother about an AK he was looking at buying. I think the gun store is actually is brothers endevor. I dont vist the place anymore, after having poor service on many occasions. IMHO the gunstore is just his way of getting NFA fun-toys without having to actually own them personally. He does have a very pro-RKBA stance, and is pretty quirky from what I've seen of him. I dont know him personally or anything. His computer stores are pretty sucessful. Not only does he love fast cars, but he loves to speed and drive agressively, and has been ticketed for that before. He has a Jag and a Hummer... along with a lead foot and a "the law dosnt apply to me" attitude. He likes to babble about "road ragers"... usually people that complain about his reckless driving. I dont know if he has been convicted of any felonies, but he has had a few run-ins with the law before... one back in 1995, IIRC. Everyone involved here probably screwed up. But I've personally been down the street in question. Its in a residential area, speed limit 25mph, IIRC. Fairly strait and no stop signs for some distance. Wouldnt suprise me if he was speeding in the area. Homeowners made a mistake of cornering and threatening him... he probably wasnt justified to use deadly force.. but may habe been justified in drawing his gun. No one knows the details except Dale and the homeowners and witnesses in the area. It will be hashed out in court.

I agree with you as far as his gun store is concerned, horrible pricing, and less then spectacular customer service.

His computers......lets just say I build much faster systems for much less

Dunno bout' his driving habits (besides the fast part) though, just remember the few times I saw his cars outside when he came to visit our store, or when I went to TAC and they were pretty nice.

Quoted: Quoted: Those guys who chased after him, and especially the guy with the rock, are stoooopid.  Hopefully Super Dell will walk, although he did not handle the situation perfectly. Yet another example of why it pays to carry pepper spray.  You can use nondeadly force to protect your property. How would he know that they were intent on damaging only his property.  If a group of less-than-rational aggressors are yelling at me and one picks up a rock and holds it in a threatening manner, I'm going to assume that they mean me bodily harm.  If they approach my car with my little girl in it, threatening to throw a rock, I'm going to assume that they could mean bodily harm to my little girl. The aggressor claims that the only intended to throw the rock at the car lights, but he could easily be making that claim up to cover his butt.  He doesn't deny that he threatened to throw the rock.  Who knows what he was really saying at the time, if he really said anything at all.  Besides, with a group of yelling aggressors, how would Mr. Schanze know what this particular one was saying?

I am just going by the facts as presented in the police report.  The perp may have said something like "I'm going to bust yer tail light with dis here rock."  If that was not clear, I still have my doubts whether a rock is a weapon likely to cause death or serious bodily injury, justifying, under the Utah law, the threatened use of deadly force.  Even if they were threatening bodily harm, that is not enough to justify pulling a gun.  Super Dell could only pull a gun if he reasonably believed that the rock would have likely caused death or serious bodily injury.  Pulling the gun was risky.  A judge and/or jury might have a very different opinion than you do about what "serious" means.  Better to just spray the guy.

Lets look at some of the more common threads we used to get around here.

How many times do we get the "take the guys and teach him a lesson " answer to the "what do we do with an asshat driver in our neighborhood" question?  Every freakin time it gets asked, several guys here come up with the beat the crap out of him answer.

And can we not forget the official IDF answer to the rockthrowing kid challenge, BRING DOWN THE ARMY AND SHOOT THEIR ASSES.  Remember those threads?

If some yahoo kept driving aggressively through my neighborhood and the city and the police couldn't handle it.  I'ld figure out a way to handle it, but I would do it legally and let him be the bad guy.  Then over-react legally.  Officer/Your Honor, I just followed him to where he went to get his license plate number and take his picture for my complaint.  I didn't confront him, I was 50 feet away, didn't say anything and he came after me.  He pulled a gun and at that point as I was in fear I dropped him to eliminate the threat.  I'm not saying more without an attorney but you can ask my friend here what happened..