No charges being filed against Mike Tyson
DA says former boxer, passenger made the request
San Mateo County prosecutors will not file charges against former professional boxer Mike Tyson after he was seen on video last month punching a fellow passenger on a JetBlue flight departing from San Francisco International Airport.
District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe said in a Tuesday statement that the office had reviewed reports from the San Francisco Police Department and the San Mateo County Sheriff's Office, as well as videos collected from other passengers on the plane. Wagstaffe said they wouldn't file charges against Tyson “based on the circumstances surrounding the confrontation.”
Specifically, Wagstaffe said his office had considered the interactions between Tyson and the passenger he punched, the conduct of that passenger, and requests from both the victim and Tyson not to file charges. The case is now considered closed, Wagstaffe added.
A witness told website TMZ, which originally posted the video, that he and his friend were excited to meet Tyson as they boarded and got him to pose for a selfie.
The witness said his friend was “overly excited” and kept trying to talk to the former heavyweight champion as they were seated behind him. Tyson asked the man to quiet down, according to TMZ. When he didn't, the fighter leaned back over his seat and repeatedly punched the passenger in the head, as seen in the video.
San Francisco police confirmed that a fight had occurred April 20 at about 10:06 p.m. on the plane in the airport's domestic terminal. Officers arrived and detained two people involved.
One person was treated for non-life threatening injuries at the scene, officials said, and told police “minimal details” about the altercation but refused to cooperate further. Both were released under a section of the California Penal Code that allows officers to release arrested people due to “insufficient grounds to file a complaint against that person.”
The fight took place hours after Tyson promoted his new cannabis-infused edibles at San Francisco's 4/20 festival.