Mike Tyson Won’t Face Criminal Charges Over Airplane Fight

Mike Tyson won't face criminal charges for his JetBlue airplane fight last month, gossip website TMZ reports. The San Mateo County District Attorney said yesterday (May 9) morning that 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" no charges will be filed against the legendary fighter. Per the gossip site, Tyson was facing possible criminal charges for punching Melvin Townsend III repeatedly on the April 20 flight after he wouldn’t leave the former pro boxer alone.

A witness said the passenger was overly excited upon discovering he was sitting behind Tyson on the Florida-bound flight. After securing a selfie with him, the passenger continued to try to talk to Tyson and apparently annoyed him enough, and was told to relax. In the video, the passenger was seen standing up and getting in Tyson’s space while his friend was filming.

Tyson, 55, allegedly then turned around to punch Townsend in the face multiple times, as seen in the below footage. Shortly after assaulting him, Tyson walked off the plane and Townsend, who could be seen with a bloodied face, received medical attention and contacted the police but declined to press charges. Townsend has been previously arrested for fraud, grand theft, burglary, possession of controlled substances, and trafficking in stolen property.

The video follows an incident back in March where Tyson was filmed keeping his cool when a man challenged him to a fight and pulled out a loaded gun. That clip was taken at a Los Angeles comedy show and shows Tyson sitting still while the man appeared to get more and more riled up, which prompted the host of the event to tell the man to back off. That’s when a gun was drawn and cocked, sending attendees into a brief panic while Tyson calmly sat there as the man put the gun away.