New details have emerged about a recent altercation between Mike Tyson and another passenger on his JetBlue flight.
Melvin Townsend III, the 36-year-old man who Tyson punched on the plane, has a long criminal record, per TMZ.
Townsend has been convicted of fraud, grand theft, burglary, possession of controlled substances and trafficking in stolen property.
In 2018, Townsend had a run-in with the cops when he broke into someone’s property and stole their trailer, hitching it to the back of his pickup truck. In a separate incident, Townsend was found to be in possession of oxycodone.
Townsend served two stints in prison: Once for 20 months and another for 15 months.
Captured on video, Tyson punched Townsend in the head numerous times after he repeatedly harassed the former heavyweight champion. Townsend was sitting behind Tyson on their flight from San Francisco to Miami on Wednesday. In the clip, Townsend can be heard repeatedly saying Tyson’s name in an attempt to get his attention.
Tyson, 55, alleges that the incident got violent when Townsend threw a water bottle at the boxer-turned-cannabis entrepreneur.
Eventually, Tyson hit his breaking point and repeatedly punched Townsend, leaving him bruised and bloody. Both men were escorted off the plane and were greeted by law enforcement.
Townsend and Tyson were released when the former said that he would not be pressing charges. Tyson eventually made it to Miami to attend a lavish marijuana conference and was all smiles later that day when photographed smoking.
JetBlue has not released a statement about the incident.
