Both Mike Tyson & Paparazzi want to file battery charges against each other
Amy Jones
Updated: November 11, 2009, 11:32 PM ET
Tyson detained on suspicion of batteryComment Email Print Share
Associated Press
LOS ANGELES -- Mike Tyson allegedly hit a photographer at Los Angeles
International Airport and was detained on suspicion of battery
Wednesday, police said.
The paparazzo told police that the former heavyweight boxing champion
struck him once, airport police spokesman Sgt. Jim Holcomb said. The
photographer fell to the ground and was treated for a cut to his
forehead at a hospital.
Jeffrey Mayer/WireImage
Mike Tyson was detained at LAX after an alleged altercation with a
photographer.
Tyson's spokeswoman Tammy Brook said the boxer was traveling with his
wife and 10-month-old child Wednesday afternoon when he was attacked
by an overly aggressive paparazzo. He acted in self-defense to protect
his child, she said.
Tyson and the unnamed photographer both want to press charges for
misdemeanor battery, police said.
"There's a lot of different versions to this story and that's all
going to come out later," Holcomb said. "Some witness statements
support Tyson's version, others support the photographer's."
Paparazzi often camp out at Los Angeles' largest airport to get shots
of celebrities in transit.
Tyson was cooperative as he waited in a holding cell at the airport
police station, Holcomb said. He will be booked and released later.
The photographer will also be booked once he is released from the
hospital, police said.
Tyson became the youngest heavyweight champion ever in 1986 when he
won his title as a 20-year-old. But his life since then has been
marred by accusations of domestic violence, rape and cocaine use.
Tyson was convicted of rape in Indiana in 1992, serving three years in
prison. He was disqualified from a 1997 heavyweight title fight when
he bit off part of Evander Holyfield's right ear, and in 1999 he
pleaded no contest to misdemeanor assault charges in Maryland.
In 2003, Tyson filed for Chapter 11 protection in U.S. Bankruptcy
Court. He served 24 hours in an Arizona jail in 2007 after pleading
guilty to cocaine possession and driving under the influence.
Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press