Las Vegas Review-Journal

No charges filed against Tyson for fight during flight

- Mike Tyson

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.

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