SAN FRANCISCO ( Associated Press) – Officials will not file criminal charges against former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson after he was recorded on video Prosecutors announced Tuesday that he punched a fellow first-class passenger on board a plane at San Francisco International Airport last month.
The San Mateo County District Attorney’s Office said it has closed the case and decided to pursue charges based on “the circumstances surrounding the confrontation.”
“These include the victim’s conduct to the incident, the conversation between Mr. Tyson and the victim, as well as requests from both the victim and Mr. Tyson that no charges be filed in this case,” District Attorney Stephen Wagstaff said in a statement. .
Police had earlier said that the victim had given some information about the dispute and refused to cooperate with the investigation.
Tyson’s representatives previously said that the boxer “was on a flight with an aggressive passenger who began harassing him and threw a water bottle at him while in his seat.”
Video from April 20 shows Tyson leaning against the back of his seat, repeatedly striking an unidentified man in the head, drawing blood. The footage was first uploaded to TMZ. was shared byWho said it was recorded on a Jet Blue plane bound for Florida.
Before the physical altercation, the second passenger was seen in the video standing in Tyson’s seat – waving his arms and talking animatedly, while the former boxer sits quietly.
Tyson’s lawyers praised the district attorney’s decision in a statement Tuesday, thanking law enforcement for “careful, diligent and professional work.”
Another passenger on the flight, Sarah Burchfield, told SFGate. told that she had seen the man Tyson punched in the airport bar, who at first appeared loud and rambunctious.
“When I boarded the flight, I thought, ‘Oh, no, that drunk man is on our flight,'” Birchfield told the media outlet.
Since the 55-year-old Tyson retired from boxing, he has worked as an actor, podcaster and cannabis entrepreneur. SFGate reported that he was in San Francisco in April for the annual 420 cannabis festival at Golden Gate Park, where he was promoting his cannabis brand Tyson 2.0.
Tyson became the youngest heavyweight champion in history in 1987 at the age of 20. During his career he won 50 victories, of which 44 by knockout.
In the 1990s, Tyson served three years in prison after pleading guilty to rape. He has maintained his innocence in this case.
Tyson was briefly barred from boxing in 1997 after infamously biting off a part of Evander Holyfield’s ear during a fight.
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