No charges filed against Tyson for fight during flight
SAN FRANCISCO — Authorities will not file criminal charges against former heavyweight champ Mike Tyson after he was recorded on video punching a fellow first-class passenger aboard a plane at
San Francisco International Airport last month, prosecutors announced Tuesday.
The San Mateo
County District Attorney’s Office said it has closed the case and decided against pursuing charges based on “the circumstances surrounding the confrontation.”
“These include the conduct of the victim leading up to the incident, the interaction between Mr. Tyson and the victim, as well as the requests of both the victim and Mr. Tyson that no charges be filed in this case,” District Attorney Stephen Wagstaffe said in a statement.
Police previously said that the victim had provided few details about the altercation and refused to cooperate.
Representatives for Tyson previously said the boxer was on a flight with “an aggressive passenger who began harassing him and threw a water bottle at him while he was in his seat.”
The April 20 video, recorded on a Jetblue Airways plane bound for Florida, shows Tyson leaning over the back of his seat repeatedly striking the unidentified man in the head, drawing blood.
Prior to the altercation, the other passenger was seen standing over Tyson’s seat — waving his arms and talking animatedly while Tyson sits quietly.
Attorneys for Tyson, 55, praised the district attorney’s decision in a statement, thanking law enforcement for “careful, diligent and professional work.”
Another passenger on the flight, Sarah Burchfield, told Sfgate that she had seen the man who Tyson punched at an airport bar earlier appearing loud and quarrelsome.
“When I boarded the flight, I thought, ‘Oh, no, that drunk guy is on our flight,’ ” Burchfield said.