By Mike Donoghue
Vermont News First

A convicted felon from Philadelphia is being held on federal charges after authorities said he was found brandishing a loaded handgun with a partially defaced serial number outside an apartment complex in old Fort Ethan Allen in Colchester, court records show.

David A. Zapata, 32, who is wanted in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, was later linked to more than 5 ounces of fentanyl found in a bag in an apartment at 33 Ethan Allen Ave. that he had been using recently, officials said.

Zapata was due to appear for his initial hearing in U.S. District Court on Friday afternoon on a charge of being a felon in possession of a firearm, but he did not appear, and his defense lawyer asked for a one-week delay.

Federal Magistrate Judge Kevin Doyle made inquiries about Zapata’s disruptive behavior since his arrest and his ability to appear, records show.

Assistant Federal Defender H. Samuel Ansell said there were questions on whether the hearing could proceed with Zapata in his current state and he also had concerns about his client’s competency, records indicated.

Doyle agreed Zapata would remain in federal custody pending his hearing next Friday.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives reported Zapata is prohibited from possessing any gun because his criminal record includes a conviction for carrying a firearm without a license in Pennsylvania in November 2017. He was sentenced to 2-to-4 years in prison.

Colchester Police, with assistance from Homeland Security Investigations determined Zapata is wanted in New Jersey on a charge of sale of cocaine and in Pennsylvania on a weapon offense, an ATF agent wrote in a federal court affidavit.

Colchester Police initially responded to reports of a man in boxer shorts with a gun in the area near the old fort and Winchester Place apartments off College Parkway about 7:17 a.m. Thursday.

More reports came into the emergency dispatch center shortly after 8 a.m. about a light-skinned man, holding a gun, dressed in pants with a black hoodie and wearing a camo backpack, police said.

Patrol Sgt. Victor Bitca later spotted a man coming out of 33 Ethan Allen Avenue about 9 a.m. and he appeared to be holding a firearm. The man, later identified as Zapata, tried to conceal a handgun, but Bitca ordered him to drop it, the ATF said.

There had been attempts to either remove or scratch off the serial number on the frame of the 9-mm semiautomatic, the ATF said.

Zapata also dropped a small orange and green fanny pack. Bitca picked up the unzipped bag and observed a white substance that he believed to be either cocaine or crack cocaine, Detective Sgt. Jesse Treier said.

Police Sgt. David Dewey used his K-9 Ozzy to sniff the area and the dog alerted on the fanny pack and a backpack. Police also seized two cellphones.

Colchester Police were able to later link Zapata to a second-floor apartment at 33 Ethan Allen Avenue, which is owned by the Champlain Housing Trust, court records noted.

Judge Dana M. DiSano authorized a court-ordered search that uncovered a bag at the apartment that contained what field tested as more than 5 ounces of fentanyl, records show. Police also seized $380 from the defendant

Police also found Karen Norful, John Peel and Penny Lee Powers in the apartment as they made a safety sweep, Treier said. Norful and Peel were released.

Powers, 41, was detained due to pending arrest warrants, he said. She was brought to court and taken to the Chittenden Regional Correctional Facility in South Burlington, where she remained Friday evening on two charges of burglary and one count each of possession of burglary tools, simple assault by menace, petty larceny and unlawful mischief, according to jail records.

A Burlington Police drug detective, who assisted with the sweep, reported seeing a mound of a white substance in a mop bucket, record show.

Police also found a Pennsylvania license plate that was displayed on a vehicle defendant had been operating when encountered by law enforcement about two weeks earlier, Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Katherine H. Flynn wrote in her detention motion.

“Brandishing a loaded firearm and possessing significant quantities of a controlled substance are clear indicators of danger to the community,” Flynn wrote in her detention motion.

She said his arrest in Vermont and the two pending out-of-state warrants provide Zapata with incentive to flee prosecution if he was released.