Mike Tyson cleared of criminal charges in airplane incident

Mike Tyson won't be charged for punching a man on an airplane last month, the San Mateo County (California) District Attorney announced Tuesday.

"We have reviewed the police reports of the San Francisco Police Department and the San Mateo County Sheriff's Office and have viewed the various videos collected by law enforcement from others on the airplane," said the DA, Steve Wagstaffe. "Our decision is that we will not file any charges against Mr. Tyson based on the circumstances surrounding the confrontation.

"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."

Tyson (50-6, 44 KOs) was seen striking a passenger who was seated behind him, in a video originally obtained by TMZ Sports. In a separate video, the passenger was later seen with blood on the right side of his forehead just above his eye. The passenger is later seen with blood on his forehead.

"Unfortunately, Mr. Tyson had an incident on a flight with an aggressive passenger who began harassing him," Tyson's reps told TMZ, "and threw a water bottle at him while he was in his seat."

The JetBlue flight was set to depart San Francisco International Airport for Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport in Florida. Both Tyson and the other passenge, who has a long criminal history, were apprehended by police in San Francisco but subsequently released.

Tyson retired from boxing in 2005 following a sixth-round TKO loss to journeyman Kevin McBride. He returned for an exhibition bout against Roy Jones Jr. in November 2020.

Today, the 55-year-old focuses on his podcast, "Hotboxin' With Mike Tyson," and his cannabis line, Tyson 2.0.