On Thursday, Mike Tyson punched someone on the plane that was harassing him. Read about that here. Well, it turns out the guy has an extensive criminal record.
The man who got beat up by Tyson has been identified as 36-year-old Melvin George Townsend III of Punta Gorda, FL. (Of course, it was a Florida man.) According to MMA Mania, Townsend has “already served two jail sentences after being convicted of fraud, grand theft, burglary, possession of controlled substances, and trafficking in stolen property.”
A spoke person for Tyson told ESPN, “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.”
Townsend is lawyering up
There were whispers that Townsend was not going to press charges. That has unfortunately changed. Townsend has lawyered up with Matt Morgan from Morgan & Morgan.
In a statement from Morgan, he told TMZ, “Our client is a big Mike Tyson fan. When Mike Tyson boarded the plane, he became overly excited. At first, their interaction was cordial,” Morgan said. “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.”
A source told TMZ that Townsend “Is still in shock and has not made a determination on what his next steps will be. He hired counsel due to his physical injuries, the overwhelming nature of this event, and the associated media inquiries.”
“The San Francisco Police Dept. said cops responded to the scene and detained two people they believed were involved in the incident. One person was treated for non-life-threatening injuries, according to police, who told TMZ the injured person refused to cooperate with their investigation.”
It looks like this fiasco isn’t going to end anytime soon, but MiddleEasy will keep you updated.
