Man hit, killed by jet on runway in Denver in early May had 3 criminal cases dismissed because he was not mentally competent for trial
State records show the 41-year-old had 25 prior arrests and three stints in state prison.
Author: Kevin Vaughan May 13, 2026
The man hit and killed by a Frontier airliner on a runway at Denver International Airport last week had struggled with mental health issues in recent years, according to court documents obtained by 9NEWS Investigates.
In the past year, judges dismissed three criminal cases against Michael Mott, 41, after doctors concluded he was mentally incompetent to stand trial – and that treatment was not likely to change that.
Denver’s medical examiner, Dr. Sterling McLaren, identified Mott as the man who scaled an 8-foot fence topped with barbed wire last Friday night, walked onto runway 17 Left, and died when a jet on its takeoff roll hit him at nearly 150 miles per hour.
Colorado Bureau of Investigation records show Mott has been xarrested 25 times since 2002. He went to prison three times – in 2005, in 2010, and in 2017.'
After he was arrested in 2020 and charged with second-degree assault on a police officer, the case stalled, in part because he’d been found incompetent to stand trial. That means he could not understand the proceedings or assist in his own defense.
“Some of them don't understand where they are,” said former Denver District Attorney Mitch Morrissey, who dealt with numerous cases of incompetency during his 33 years as a prosecutor. “They don't understand the charges against them. They can't communicate with their lawyer. They can't partake in their defense.”
In those cases, Colorado law currently requires that a judge dismiss criminal charges.
That happened in the 2020 case and two others – an assault in 2022, also in Montezuma County, and another one in 2024 in El Paso County.
“That means the individual doesn't get treatment, doesn't get any kind of placement, say, at the state hospital or anything like that. Gets released to the street,” Morrissey said.
WTF???
Prosecutors in Douglas County charged Austin Benson [different person] with multiple counts of attempted murder in 2018 after he was accused of driving along Rampart Range Road and randomly shooting at people. After his case was dismissed and he was released, he was accused of random shootings in June 2024 in Aurora that left three people seriously injured.
His case is on hold while Benson’s attorneys and prosecutors attempt to have him committed to a mental hospital. But that is an unusual situation – no mechanism currently exists in state law to send a person to a mental health treatment center once a criminal case is dismissed over competency.
However, legislators this week passed a measure that would give prosecutors the power to seek a court order that a person be committed to a mental institution in cases where criminal charges are dropped over competency. To make that happen, prosecutors would have to prove, by “clear and convincing evidence,” that a person has serious mental health issues, committed a violent crime or sexual assault, and is dangerous.
“It’s a step in the right direction when it comes to protecting people,” Morrissey said.
https://www.9news.com/article/news/investigations/man-who-died-after-being-hit-by-airliner-had-three-criminal-cases-dismissed-in-past-years-over-mental-health-issues/
Attached pic, prior booking of now deceased, dismembered man, from:
https://13wham.com/news/nation-world/man-michael-mott-sucked-into-jet-engine-at-denver-international-airport-had-violent-criminal-past-records-show-colorado-springs-police-domestic-violence-assault-burglary-attempted-murder