Video shows Mike Tyson hitting a passenger on the plane; two unidentified individuals were detained and then released by police

18:10 ET

• Mike Coppinger ESPN

Mike Tyson was involved in a physical altercation on a plane on Wednesday night, as an edited video received by TMZ Sports shows the Hall of Fame hitting a passenger sitting behind him.

A spokesman for the San Francisco Police Department told ESPN on Thursday that around 10:06 p.m. local time “officers were sent to a physical brawl aboard a plane” at San Francisco International Airport. The department declined to identify those involved, saying it did not disclose the names of the detainees.

Police said two people were detained before being released later. One person with non-life-threatening injuries was treated on the spot.

“This entity provided minimal details of the incident and refused to cooperate further with the police investigation,” the official said.

In the video, received from TMZ Sports, a man sitting behind Tyson, who repeatedly tried to talk to him, was later seen with blood on his forehead, although it was not clear what had happened just before. According to TMZ, they were on board a JetBlue plane bound for Florida.

“Unfortunately, Mr Tyson had an accident during a flight with an aggressive passenger who started harassing him and threw a bottle of water at him while he was at his place,” a Tyson spokesman told ESPN on Thursday.

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The police department said it was aware of a video that probably filmed the incident, which emerged after the initial investigation. This video was forwarded to the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office.

Tyson, the former heavyweight champion, has been involved in numerous physical altercations in public. Among them: a 1989 incident in Los Angeles where Tyson was accused of hitting a parking lot with his hand open (charges dropped). In 1998, Tyson did not plead not to challenge a criminal attack following a car crash in Maryland. After three and a half months in prison, he was placed on probation.

Tyson retired from boxing in 2005, but took part in an exhibition bout with Roy Jones Jr. in 2020.

The 55-year-old Tyson is now focusing on his cannabis line along with his podcast “Hotboxin ‘With Mike Tyson”.