Topeka ? A Clay County man pleaded guilty Friday to shooting and wounding an airplane pilot, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.

Michael J. Michaud, 29, pleaded guilty 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.

Prosecutors said Michaud fled from sheriff’s deputies April 29 near Clay Center after they tried to pull over his pickup truck. When he escaped from officers on the ground, they asked pilot Michael W. Spicer and local fire chief Arnold Knoettgen to take a plane up and help the search.

Spicer spotted Michaud lying in a field and Michaud fired at the aircraft, wounding Spicer in the forehead. He landed the plane safely and went to a hospital. Michaud was arrested the next day.

U.S. District Judge Richard Rogers has scheduled Michaud to be sentenced Nov. 10. He faces a maximum of 30 years in prison.