Two years ago, he led cops on a chase down Porter Road that ended in a shootout. Now, he has pled guilty to the book thrown at him to avoid a jury trial in Pinal County Superior Court. 

Michael Joseph Zapata, 52, of Maricopa, was slated to stand trial starting Sept. 10 but decided Aug. 21 to plead guilty to all nine charges — five counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and one count each of violent kidnapping, disfiguring a person, illegal possession of a gun and fleeing. 

Zapata by this stage in what will be a 28-month court battle has fired three attorneys. A grand jury first indicted him Aug. 17, 2022, but he was rearraigned and reindicted July 22 with aggravating factors added. 

Maricopa police in 2022 were first dispatched to a reported knife attack in Homestead. 

A man there told the officers his roommate, Zapata, stabbed and burned him, sending him to the hospital, according to a joint press release from Maricopa Police Department and the Pinal County Sheriff’s Office.  

Zapata fled the scene in his car, authorities said. 

An eyewitness that day told InMaricopa he was at the intersection of Maricopa-Casa Grande Highway and Porter Road, near The Wells, waiting for a United Pacific train to clear Porter Road when he heard sirens and saw a car “coming up pretty fast.”  

“I saw him coming and he just didn’t stop,” John Potter said. “The cops were right behind him.” 

Police said Zapata’s car crashed in the intersection. Zapata began firing at officers through his car window, police said.  

MPD officers returned fire. ABC15 reporters counted at least 27 bullet holes in Zapata’s car. 

MPD and PCSO also stated the driver of the vehicle Zapata crashed into was hospitalized and released. 

Police did not hit Zapata, who sustained only minor injuries. He was taken to a hospital for treatment of those injuries, then released and booked into the Pinal County jail.  

PCSC Judge Danielle Harris will sentence him Dec. 19.

Zapata under Arizona statute faces up to life in prison. He is not eligible for probation.

A cursory search of court records showed Zapata has an extensive criminal history dating back to Colorado in 2007, including 10 arrests in Maricopa and Phoenix.