The ex-con who has served nearly THREE YEARS in prison has lawered up.
Iron Mike Tyson ‘Groupie fan’ hires lawyer after antagonizing’ boxer legend on JetBlue flight
Melvin George Townsend III of Punta Gorda, Florida harassed the Brooklyn native and threw a bottle at him has already connected with an attorney.
TMZ reports, on Friday (April 22), Townsend has now pursued legal representation. According to TMZ, the lawyer is Matt Morgan, who claims that a lawsuit could very well be on the table. For now, his client is still in shock, and he wants to truly look over his options before making a final decision.
“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. [...] To state the obvious, as one of the greatest fighters of all time, Mr. Tyson should have exercised greater restraint before using his hands on an overly excited fan.”
The 36-year-old thief and fraudster who got into an altercation with Mike Tyson while on a JetBlue flight has been identified by TMZ as Melvin Townsend, III. According to the publication, Melvin has had several run-ins with the law in the past, including being convicted of grand theft, fraud, burglary, possession of controlled substances, and trafficking in stolen property. He has also been incarcerated on two separate occasions, once for 20 months and once for 15 months.
He was also charged with burglary, drug possession, and tracking stolen goods.
Townsend's attorney told TMZ that Tyson should have shown more 'restraint' and denied that his client ever threw a water bottle at the former heavyweight champ.
As previously reported, A video of an incident on a plane on Wednesday appears to show Iron Mike Tyson repeatedly punching a fellow passenger after he wouldn’t leave the boxer/actor/podcaster alone.
The incident went down on a flight that was scheduled to go from San Francisco to Florida. A witness said the passenger was overly excited upon discovering he was sitting behind Tyson, and he secured a selfie with him. But as the passenger continued to try to talk to Tyson, he apparently annoyed him enough to be told to relax. The outlet also reports via a source that the man was “extremely intoxicated and wouldn’t stop provoking the boxer in his seat.”
The boxer Icon allegedly then turned around to punch the man in the face multiple times, as seen in the footage on TMZ. Shortly after hitting the guy, Tyson walked off the plane. The victim, who could be seen with a bloodied face, received medical attention and has since contacted the police, although there’s no word on whether an investigation has been launched.