Boxing Champion Accused of Hitting Theater Employee

Heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson faces misdemeanor charges of battery and assault with a deadly weapon--his hand--after he allegedly tried to kiss a Greek Theatre parking lot attendant and then hit a supervisor who came to her assistance, the city attorney’s office said.

The woman, Tabita Gonzalez, 18, was not hurt, and the supervisor, Jonathon Casares, 20, suffered a cut lip and a sore nose, but did not require hospitalization after the June 21 fracas in a VIP area of the open-air theater, police said.

Tyson, 20, the World Boxing Assn. and World Boxing Council titleholder, was attending a concert by the rap groups Beastie Boys and Run-DMC, and was an “honorary bodyguard” for the groups, who had introduced him to the audience early in the show.

Later, Tyson was in the VIP area not open to the public when he allegedly approached Gonzalez, who was there on a break from her parking-lot duties, police said.

Tyson, who stands 5 feet, 11 inches and weighs about 215 pounds, allegedly put his arms around Gonzalez and said “Give me a kiss,” city attorney spokesman Mike Qualls said.

As Gonzalez was trying to break free from Tyson, and was “kind of throwing her head from side to side,” according to Police Detective Roy Gobel, Casares drove by in an electric cart and saw the tussling.

When Casares “asked if she was OK,” Gobel said, Tyson let go of Gonzalez and allegedly “threw one of those concert T-shirts” at Casares’ face, then struck him in the mouth with the butt of his open hand.

Tyson left the theater after that, Gobel said, and police spent intervening days putting together their report, which the city attorney’s office acted on Monday by filing the charges.

Tyson, of Catskill, N.Y., was not taken into custody. He is scheduled to appear at an Aug. 26 arraignment here. Tyson has a title fight scheduled Aug. 1 against International Boxing Federation champion Tony Tucker in Las Vegas.

The maximum penalty for a conviction on the assault charge is one year in jail and a fine of $10,000; the battery charge carries a maximum sentence of six months in jail and a $2,000 fine.