The man who was killed after being pulled into a jet engine at Denver International Airport last week had a long and violent criminal history stretching back more than two decades.
Michael Mott, 41, had been arrested more than 20 times in since 2002, according to public records obtained by The New York Post. The charged include attempted murder, assault, domestic violence, DUI, trespassing and resisting arrest.
Mott died Friday night after breaching the airport’s perimeter fence and stepping into the path of a moving Frontier Airlines plane in what investigators believe may have been an intentional act.
Officials confirmed that Mott was sucked into one of the engines of an Airbus A321neo. His cause of death was ruled “multiple blunt and sharp force injuries.”
“As flight 4345 was departing this evening from Denver International Airport to Los Angeles International Airport, the aircraft reportedly struck a pedestrian on the runway during takeoff,” the airline confirmed in a statement released Friday night.
Mott had reportedly been on the tarmac for just two minutes before the collision happened, according to Denver International Airport CEO Phil Washington.
He was ‘sucked’ into the plane engine
Air traffic control audio captured the chilling moment the pilot alerted the tower to the emergency.
The pilot informed air traffic control, according to AP, saying: “We’re stopping on the runway,” according to the site ATC.com, before adding: “We just hit somebody. We have an engine fire.”
All 224 passengers and seven crew members on board were safely evacuated. Investigators have not recovered a suicide note, Denver Police Chief Ron Thomas said during a Tuesday news conference.
“We currently are looking for any notes, computers, anything like that, trying to identify places where he most recently was,” Thomas said.
Just one month before the deadly incident, Mott had been arrested on felony trespassing charges after allegedly damaging property at a home in Colorado Springs and resisting arrest when officers arrived.
Police told The Post that Mott – who was reportedly homeless at the time – was booked into the El Paso County Jail following that April 10 arrest. It remains unclear why he was no longer in custody.
Had a criminal record
His criminal record dates back to when he was 17 years old, beginning with arrests tied to shoplifting and underage drinking. But within a few years, the offenses escalated dramatically. In 2005, Mott was arrested by the Cortez Police Department on attempted murder charges involving a firearm. He later pleaded guilty to second-degree assault causing serious bodily injury with a deadly weapon and was sentenced to six years in prison.
While incarcerated, he was again charged with felony assault involving a weapon.
By 2010 he was arrested again, on felony domestic violence, assault and menacing charges in Montezuma County. Public records also show arrests tied to second-degree burglary in 2016 and felony assault on a peace officer in 2020. In the 2020 case, prosecutors eventually dropped all six charges against him.
Between the more serious offenses, Mott was repeatedly arrested for crimes including DUI, hit-and-run, public fighting, violating protection orders, trespassing and resisting arrest. Court records also show he frequently failed to appear for scheduled hearings. During one of at least three prison stints, he was additionally charged with attempting to escape custody in 2017.
Airport officials say the investigation into the incident remains ongoing.
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