Former TV pitchman charged with assaulting owl in paraglider

A former TV pitchman in Utah is facing federal charges that he chased and kicked an owl while in a motorized paraglider, prosecutors said.

The purported incident was taped and surfaced online last year.

Dell “Super Dell” Schanze was charged Tuesday with using an aircraft to harass wildlife and pursuing a migratory bird, both misdemeanors, according to the U.S. attorney’s office in Utah.

Authorities said the 2011 action by Schanze, 45, violated the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1919.

Schanze was a pitchman for Totally Awesome Computers, a Utah retail chain that closed its doors in 2006, the Associated Press reported. He is also a paragliding instructor who came under fire when one of his rookie students died in a crash in Imperial Beach in San Diego County last year.

Schanze faces up to one year in jail and a $100,000 fine for using an aircraft to harass wildlife and up to six months in jail and a $5,000 fine for pursuing a migratory bird, authorities said.

Authorities are also attempting to seize Schanze’s paraglider.

In 2005, Schanze was convicted for lying to police after prosecutors said he pulled a gun on residents who were mad that he was speeding through their neighborhood, according to the Associated Press.

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