Law enforcement in San Francisco will not be indicting Mike Tyson on any criminal counts after footage last month went viral showing him socking a passenger who Tyson claimed was “harassing” him.
They justified their decision not to prosecute based on the “circumstances surrounding the confrontation.” The San Mateo County District Attorney’s Office told People magazine on May 11 that “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.”
Steve Wagstaffe, the case’s district attorney, told the magazine that after looking at the evidence and the “mixed” reports from the San Francisco Police Department, he was able to see that “the victim was intoxicated and instigated the matter.”
Wagstaffe also concluded that the matter was not something for “criminal justice” to deal with and said the victim was almost “Darwinian” and “not too bright” to try to fight with a man once nicknamed “The Baddest Man on the Planet.”
He said: “Bottom line, which is most important, is that it’s not a case that belongs in criminal justice. It is quite a Darwinian move to get into the face of a former heavyweight champion of the world. That’s not too bright.”
At the time, representatives for the boxer labeled it an “incident” between him and a fellow passenger who was “harassing him” by throwing a water bottle at him. They said in a statement: “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.”
Video of the altercation was shared by the online gossip outlet TMZ, which depicted Mike repeatedly hitting the man, who later needed medical attention.
The San Francisco Police Department said that the man in question “provided minimal details of the incident and refused to cooperate further with the police investigation,” and both were released as they investigated further.
