A city building inspector warned David Schutt and his roommates that they had to do something about the flocks of pooping pigeons infesting their University of Utah-area residence.

David said he even had pigeons in his room. But when he tried to chase them off, he found himself behind bars on Easter Sunday, suspected of animal cruelty and shooting a weapon inside city limits.

The alleged crime? Killing, he says by accident, one of the feathered horde with a BB gun.

Schutt , an engineering student at the University of Utah, says he was just trying to scatter the birds who live in the eaves and alcoves of the home he and his roommates rent at 1020 South 300 East in Salt Lake City.

"I really wasn't trying to put a hole in any pigeons, I was just trying to scare them away," he said, adding that he felt bad when he saw he'd hit and killed one. "It was pretty negligent on my part, but I really was just trying to give them a little ping."

Schutt's neighbors called the police when they saw him and his roommates outside with guns. Minutes after he'd shot the bird, he was handcuffed, arrested and booked into jail.

Schutt said it seemed like a stupid mistake at first, but then police told him he could be charged with a felony.

But after hours behind bars at the county jail, a conversation with jail guards may have led to his release. Schutt said workers might have taken pity on him when they realized why he was locked up.

Ann Davis of the Animal Advocacy Alliance of Utah told 2News the animal cruelty charge might be a bit over the top.

Davis and others fought hard a year and a half ago at the state legislature to have animal cruelty laws beefed up in the state of Utah. Lawmakers recently amended the current law to allow prosecutors to charge people with a felony if they torture companion animals such and dogs and cats.

Salt Lake City police declined to comment. The city prosecutor will now screen the case.