A District Attorney has refused to punish Mike Tyson for beating up a man on a plane last month because of the victim's conduct.
Video surfaced last month of Tyson repeatedly punching 36-year-old Melvin George Townsend III whilst on board a JetBlue plane, leaving him bloodied with cuts to his forehead. Tyson later claimed he had a bottle of water thrown at him by Mr Townsend, who had earlier asked the former heavyweight champion for a picture whilst boarding the flight. Tyson agreed to the picture request as the pair had a cordial exchange.
San Mateo County District Attorney Stephen M. Wagstaffe has told TMZ the case has been dismissed because of "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".
Wagstaffe also said neither Tyson nor Mr Townsend wanted to proceed with the case. Tyson's three attorneys said of the settlement: "We thank San Mateo District Attorney Stephen Wagstaffe, the San Mateo County Sheriff, and all law enforcement agencies involved in this investigation for their careful, diligent, and professional work."
Mr Townsend, who refused to press charges after being beaten up, had denied Tyson's claim that he threw a bottle at him. The victim's attorney blamed the incident on his client being too "excited" to meet the boxing legend because he is a big fan of his.
"Our client is a big Mike Tyson fan," Mr Townsend's attorney said. "When Mr Tyson boarded the plane, he became overly excited. At first, their interaction was cordial. At a certain point, Mr Tyson clearly became agitated by an overly excited fan and began to strike him in an excessive manner.
"This situation could have been avoided simply by contacting the flight attendant. Our client denies throwing a water bottle prior to being struck by Mr Tyson."
The incident wasn't Tyson's only fan interaction that turned sour of late, as he was antagonised by a woman at a boxing event earlier this month. The woman shoved her finger in Tyson's face but quickly apologised claiming her forewardness was an accident.
