The Denver airport trespasser who was dismembered by a jet engine after he calmly stepped in front of a Frontier flight had a dark criminal past, The Post can reveal.
Michael Mott, 41, racked up over 20 arrests in Colorado dating back to 2002 — including for attempted murder.
Michael Mott, who was dismembered by a Frontier Airlines jet engine during a twisted suicide mission at Denver International Airport, had a dark criminal past.Montezuma County Sheriff’s Office
One of his mug shots show him with a bandaid on his forehead and a gash on his neck.
His most recent arrest was for felony trespassing just one month before he jumped the fence at Denver International in an attempt suicide mission.
Mott got sucked into one of the engines of the Airbus A-321neo and his cause of death was determined to be multiple blunt and sharp force injuries, officials said Tuesday.
It wasn’t immediately clear why the Pueblo-native was walking free after he was nabbed on April 10 for first-degree trespassing and damaging property at a Colorado Springs dwelling, then resisting arrest when cops arrived.
Mott – who was homeless at the time – was initially booked into the El Paso County Jail after that incident, the Colorado Springs Police Department told The Post.
His most recent mug shot showed the repeat offender sporting shoulder-length black hair, a salt-and-pepper goatee and a piercing gaze.
Mott racked up over 20 arrests in Colorado dating back to 2002.Colorado Springs Police Department
Starting when he was just 17, Mott was repeatedly arrested for minor infractions like shoplifting and underage alcohol consumption – but within just a couple of years, he had devolved into a hardened, violent criminal, his public rap sheet shows.
By February 2005, he was arrested by officers from the Cortez Police Department for attempted murder using a gun.
He pleaded down to second-degree assault causing serious bodily injury with a deadly weapon in that case, and was slapped with six years behind bars.
While in prison, he was charged with felony assault using a weapon once again.
Mott got sucked into one of the engines of the Airbus A-321neo and his cause of death was determined to be multiple blunt and sharp force injuries.City and County of Denver, Department of Aviation via Storyful
But he was free again by April 2010, when Montezuma County Sheriff’s Office cops picked him up for felony domestic violence, menacing and assault charges.
His other violent crimes included second-degree burglary in 2016 and felony assault on a peace officer in 2020.
In the latter case, the Montezuma County District Attorney’s Office dismissed all six of the charges brought against Mott for his alleged attack on the officer, the records show.
Between violent felonies, Mott – who routinely skipped out on scheduled court dates – was nabbed for driving under the influence, one hit-and-run, trespassing, fighting in public, violating protection orders and resisting arrest on several occasions.
And during one of at least three stints behind bars, he was charged with attempting to escape prison custody in 2017, according to public records.
A suicide note has not been recovered since Mott’s twisted mission Friday, Denver Police Department Chief Ron Thomas said during a news conference on Tuesday.
And during one of at least three stints behind bars, he was charged with attempting to escape prison custody in 2017, according to public records. Facebook/Michael Mott
“We currently are looking for any notes, computers, anything like that, trying to identify places where he most recently was,” Thomas said.
Mott had jumped the 8-foot perimeter fence topped with barbed wire and was on the tarmac for only two minutes before he was struck by the plane at 11:19 p.m., Denver International Airport chief executive officer Phil Washington said Tuesday.
The Los Angeles-bound plane was traveling at 139 mph at the time of the collision, according to FlightAware.
Michael Mott (aka Mike Mott) is seen in a photo posted to Facebook on September 21, 2025.Facebook/Michael Mott
Shocking audio captured the moments bewildered pilots aboard the flight smashed into Mott – leaving his “limbs” scattered on the runway.
“I do have limbs on the runway. I believe the aircraft struck an individual,” the airport staff continued, adding later: “There appear to be human remains on the runway.”
All 224 passengers and seven crew members were safely evacuated from the plane.
Washington said that safety is the airport’s number one priority, an investigation into Mott’s death is ongoing and “we will do our best to make sure that the improvements that we need to make are made very, very quickly.”
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