May 26, 2000 01:16pm
Vegas Police Clear Tyson in Altercation With Dancer
Source: Reuters
(LAS VEGAS, NV) -- Boxer Mike Tyson will not face charges over allegations that he slapped a stripper in a Las Vegas nightclub, police said on Thursday, citing a lack of evidence against the controversial former world heavyweight champion.
``We don't have enough proof or evidence to go forward with this case,'' Tirso Dominguez, a spokesman for the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police, said in announcing that the case involving Tyson over the May 9 incident was closed.
Tyson attorney Jim Jimmerson said the boxer, who has denied ever hitting 24-year-old topless dancer Victoria Bianco, was relieved that detectives had ended their investigation.
``Mr. Tyson is gratified that, after an independent investigation by the police, the truth has come out confirming that the young lady's allegations were false,'' Jimmerson said.
Bianco, a dancer at Cheetah's in the famous desert resort city, accused Tyson of pushing her in her chest and causing her to fall while rejecting her offer of a ``lap dance.''
Bianco also told police that Tyson called her a ``skanky whore'' and a ``bitch.''
Eight police units arrived at the nightclub and interviewed witnesses and Bianco, whose stage name is Flower, according to police reports, but left without arresting Tyson.
Rich Buonantony, general manager of the nightclub who witnessed the altercation, said that Tyson declined a lap dance Bianco and may have been rude, but was not violent. He said she quit her job at Cheetah's the next day.
Tyson is scheduled to box Lou Savarese on June 24 in Glasgow, Scotland. The allegations by Bianco and his 1992 rape conviction had threatened to derail that bout, Jimmerson said.
Tyson was convicted in February 1992 of raping a Miss Black America contestant in an Indianapolis hotel room. He was paroled from prison in March 1995.
He was given another prison sentence in February, 1999, after pleading no contest to assaulting two motorists after a minor traffic accident.
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