CLAY CENTER MAN GETS 20 YEARS
FOR SHOOTING AT AIRPLANE, WOUNDING PILOT

TOPEKA, KAN. – A Clay Center man was sentenced Tuesday to 20 years in federal prison for shooting the pilot of an airplane that was assisting sheriff’s officers in the search for him.

Michael J. Michaud, 29, was sentenced during a hearing before U.S. District Judge Richard Rogers in federal court in Topeka.

Michaud pleaded guilty in August to one count of endangering the safety of an aircraft by an act of violence and one count of discharging a firearm in a crime of violence.

“The defendant was hiding in a field in hopes of eluding law enforcement officers when he rose and shot at the small plane,” said U.S. Attorney Eric Melgren. “The bullet shattered the window of the cockpit, sending shards of Plexiglas into the pilot’s face. The bullet also struck the pilot above his left eye, leaving a six-inch gash across his forehead. It was a remarkable feat that the pilot was able to save himself and his spotter by landing the plan safely despite his injuries.”

In his plea, Michaud admitted that on April 29, 2005, in Clay Center, Kan., he fled from Clay County Sheriff Chuck Dunn when Dunn attempted to stop Michaud’s pickup for a traffic violation. The Sheriff requested air support, which was provided by Michael Spicer, who was a local pilot and Clay County Commissioner, accompanied by Arnold Knoettgen, a rural fire chief who was serving as a spotter. They were flying a Cessna 150.

From the airplane, the pilot and spotter were able to locate Michaud hiding in a field and were attempting to lead officers on the ground to the location when Michaud shot at the airplane with a .44 caliber Smith and Wesson Model 29 handgun. The pilot, who was wounded and bleeding rapidly, broke off the search to perform an emergency landing at nearby Clay Center Airport. Michaud was arrested the following morning when a citizen reported seeing Michaud hiding in an outbuilding.

Melgren commended the Clay County Sheriff’s Department, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, which investigated the case, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Jason Coody, who prosecuted.

 

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