|
 |   |
|
EVENTS Fantasy Central Inside Game Multimedia Central Statitudes Your Turn Message Boards Email Newsletters Golf Guide Cities Work in Sports
CNNSI.com GROUP
COMMERCE |  |
'She's in it for the money' Topless dancer accuses Tyson of hitting her at Vegas bar
Posted: Thursday May 11, 2000 09:48 AM
LAS VEGAS (AP) - The manager of a topless bar suggested Wednesday that one of his dancers was trying to extort money from Mike Tyson when she accused the former heavyweight champion of hitting her during a scuffle at the bar. Lonnie Roybal said the dancer was fired by the club after she went to police a day later and filed a complaint against Tyson, saying he hit her in the chest. "Mike never struck her or pushed her in any way," said Roybal, a shift manager at Cheetah's nightclub. "She's in it for the money." Roybal said he was sitting next to Tyson on Monday when the dancer, 24-year-old Victoria Bianco, approached the boxer and tried to sit on his lap. He said Tyson raised his hand up to "create space" and yelled obscenities at the woman but never hit her. "She lost her balance and landed on her butt. That was about it," Roybal said. "She made it very clear her feelings were hurt, but she wasn't touched at all." Bianco then called her boyfriend and he called police to the club, Roybal said. Police interviewed her and left after finding no evidence Tyson assaulted her. Bianco, who dances under the stage name "Flower," went on to work three more hours and finished her shift. "They had no indication a crime had occurred after speaking to her and everyone else," police spokesman Steve Meriwether said. "Later, she came in and filed a crime report for whatever reason. That's her decision and we will investigate it." Attempts to reach Bianco were unsuccessful. Roybal said he was talking to Tyson, whom he described as a longtime regular at the club, when Bianco came up and tried to sell Tyson a lap dance. "He said, `Leave me alone, I'm talking with Lonnie,'" Roybal said. "Then she tried to sit on his lap." Tyson had walked several miles to the club by himself Monday afternoon after having a dispute with his trainers and handlers at a gym where he has been training for his June 24 fight with Lou Savarese, said a source close to the fighter who asked not to be identified. Tyson showed the same volatility the previous week when he yelled obscenities at a female photographer at the gym and ordered her removed from his workout. Despite Tyson's previous legal problems -- which include a rape conviction in Indiana -- Tyson spokesman Peter Seligman said the boxer was not at fault this time. "It's another case of a celebrity being hunted down for money," Seligman said. "Mike Tyson is an easy target. There's no bigger target than Mike Tyson." Tyson's promoters are trying to put his bout against Savarese in a soccer stadium in Glasgow, Scotland, or in Milan, Italy, This latest dispute could have repercussions if the fight is in Scotland. Tyson was nearly denied entry to England in January for his fight with Julian Francis because of his rape conviction and protests by women's groups.
| ||||||||||||||||||||
