Mike Tyson Says He Felt 'Harassed' On A Plane & That's Why He Punched A Guy On Video
Police are looking into it.
Mike Tyson
Mike Tyson didn’t just pummel another JetBlue passenger out of nowhere earlier this week; he says the other guy was harassing him while intoxicated.
The boxer addressed the incident in a statement through his representatives on Thursday, after San Francisco authorities announced that they were investigating.
“Unfortunately, Mr. Tyson had an incident on a flight with an aggressive passenger who began harassing him and threw a water bottle at him while he was in his seat,” his representatives said in an email to the Associated Press Thursday, after video of the incident surfaced online.
The video was first released by TMZ and showed Tyson calmly sitting in his seat, minding his own business, while a passenger behind him repeatedly called his name, whispered in his ear and waved at him. They were both on a flight that was preparing to go from San Francisco to Florida.
Tyson reportedly asked the man to stop bothering him and said that he didn’t want to talk, but the passenger didn’t seem to get the memo and continued to annoy Tyson.
Eventually, the boxer snapped and can be seen leaning over the back of his chair, throwing intense punches at the other passenger. The passenger was reportedly left with bloody gashes to the head and received treatment for his injuries.
The San Francisco Police Department has confirmed that they were “dispatched to a physical altercation onboard an airplane” at around 10:06 p.m. on April 20.
“Officers arrived and detained two subjects that were believed to be involved in the incident,” said their tweet. “One subject was treated at the scene for non-life-threatening injuries. That subject provided minimal details of the incident + refused to cooperate further with the investigation.”
They say both individuals were released pending further investigation. The video has since been forwarded to the San Mateo County Sheriff's Office.
The other passenger has not been identified. However, a witness did say that the passenger was being loud and argumentative at the airport bar before the flight.
"When I boarded the flight, I though, 'Oh no, that drunk guy is on our flight,'" passenger Sarah Burchfield told SFGate.
She added that she saw the other passenger "interacting" with Tyson as she boarded the plane, and it wasn't long before she heard a commotion from where they were sitting.
"Obviously it has to be from Mike Tyson," she said. "Because it's Mike Tyson."
She added that she doesn't remember the flight attendants acknowledging the incident.
"It happened, we all looked and gawked, then moved on."