The man who was beaten by Mike Tyson on a JetBlue flight is suing for $450,000 in what the former heavyweight champion’s lawyer is calling a “smash.”
A lawyer for Melvin Townsend sent Iron Mike’s lawyer a “pre-litigation settlement request” for “injuries and damages” they say he suffered when Tyson “brutally assaulted” him on a flight from San Francisco to Florida in April last year.
The legal letter claims the North Carolina man was just a fan “excited” to chat with the now 57-year-old student before a fight that was filmed by other passengers and “is widely available on the Internet.”
“As a former undisputed heavyweight champion, the potential to cause serious injury to others is unquestionable,” wrote Townsend’s attorney, Jake Jondle.
“There were several other remedies available to Mr. Tyson, but he chose physical violence,” she wrote, noting how the star later admitted in a TV interview that he was “wrong” and it “shouldn’t have happened.”
Mike Tyson was filmed punching a fellow JetBlue passenger in April 2022. TMZSports.com
“Immediately after the incident, Mr. Townsend developed severe headaches and neck pain” and “still suffers from the effects of the attack to this day,” Jondle wrote.
He couldn’t get immediate medical help because he didn’t have insurance, and also lost “several jobs because of his bad fame,” Jondle said.
The six-figure pre-litigation settlement will cover Townsend’s ongoing medical care, including medication, therapy, and other common treatments for headache and neck pain as well as depression and PTSD, Jondle wrote.
By agreeing to the settlement, Townsend will be barred from filing any future lawsuits against Tyson.
The boxer’s lawyer, Alex Spiro, steadfastly refused to cooperate or pay.
Melvin Townsend claims to have ongoing medical problems as a result of the confrontation. TMZSports.com
“I have received a shock letter regarding some inciting harassment of Mike a year ago and the consequences,” Spiro said of the request.
“There will be no shock payments.”
Jondle did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment.
Mike Tyson is a former heavyweight champion and a convicted rapist. Penske Media via Getty Images
The JetBlue flight incident made headlines when footage of Tyson twisting and leaning back in his seat to punch Townsend multiple times was published on TMZ.
Townsend was later photographed with what appeared to be blood on his head.
Tyson reacted violently as Townsend threw a water bottle at him, the boxer’s representative said at the time.
The pre-litigation lawsuit, however, alleges that Townsend was simply “excited” to see Tyson and “started discussing the marijuana industry and psychedelic mushrooms with him.”
The pre-litigation settlement sought $450,000. Jake Jondle x25859
The letter also cited Tyson’s appearance on Jimmy Kimmel’s show, where he admitted “I shouldn’t have done that” about the loss.
“I was wrong, that shouldn’t have happened,” Tyson told the host.
“That’s me in my primitive childish stage… but I’m just irritated, tired, arrogant and angry. S–t happened.”
Townsend has several criminal convictions of his own. Florida Department of Corrections
Authorities declined to charge Tyson in connection with the incident, which the former athlete discussed on the “Hotboxin'” podcast in May 2022.
“He’s king with me, man,” the former athlete and convicted rapist told host Townsend, who has been convicted of fraud, grand theft, and burglary, among other charges.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
