Police Called to Calm Tyson at Home : No One Injured During Incident, but Wife Requests Assistance

Officers went into heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson’s home to try to calm him down at the request of his wife, actress Robin Givens, and her mother, police said Monday.

Police Chief Thomas J. Sciaretta refused to comment on reports in The New York Post and the New York Daily News that Tyson had hurled furniture through windows in a fit of rage.

“This is a domestic violence incident not unlike many others, except for the fact that it involves a public figure,” Sciaretta said at a news conference. He said police consider the case ended because nobody was injured and damage occurred only to Tyson’s possessions.

“The man has done nothing wrong. It’s his home. He’s entitled to do anything he pleases provided no one is injured,” Sciaretta said.

The newspapers reported that the outburst was sparked by interviews Givens and her mother, Ruth Roper, had with Barbara Walters.

In the interviews, broadcast Friday on ABC’s “20-20,” the women portrayed Tyson, 22, as a frightening person to live with.

The Post reported that on Sunday morning, Tyson, who has said he is manic-depressive, hurled a sugar bowl and chairs through the windows of his northern New Jersey estate. The News said Tyson brandished “an instrument” from the fireplace and ran through the mansion smashing windows.

Sciaretta disclosed few details about the damage, saying only that there was broken glass in a foyer.

He said Givens apparently called the police, but did not want to sign a domestic violence complaint and no one was injured.

Givens and Roper asked the officers to try to calm the boxer because he had damaged the house, Sciaretta said. Tyson felt the police presence was unwarranted, he said.

As Givens and Roper left the estate, Tyson watched from the driveway and left a short time later, Sciaretta said. He refused to elaborate or describe the fighter’s state of mind.

He said Bernardsville police did not know where the family members were Monday.

The dispute, which came a day after Tyson, Givens and Roper celebrated Roper’s birthday, is the latest in a series of problems for the heavyweight champion.

Last month, Tyson crashed his car and was knocked unconscious, forcing the postponement of a boxing match and sparking news reports that the boxer threatened to kill himself before the accident. In August, Tyson broke a bone in his hand during a street fight with boxer Mitch Green.