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 Tyson 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.
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 paparazzi. 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. "There
were numerous witnesses and that's what this whole case is going to
depend on."
Tyson was being held at the airport police station and will be booked and released later, Holcomb said.
"Right now he is very compliant, very cooperative. He's just waiting in one of our holding cells," he said.
The photographer will also be booked once he is released from the hospital, police said.