Bodycam footage shows billionaire Tyson Foods heir John Tyson’s arrest
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John R. Tyson was arrested on November 6 in Fayetteville, Arkansas
Arkansas police have released bodycam footage showing the newly appointed CFO of Tyson Foods being arrested after he falls asleep drunk at a stranger’s home.
John R. Tyson — a great-grandson of the Tyson Foods founder — was arrested in Fayetteville on Nov. 6 after a middle-aged woman found him asleep in her bed at 2 a.m. and called the police.
The police footage released Friday shows Tyson, who has publicly apologized for the incident, appears disoriented and tries to go back to sleep as the police pull him out of the stranger’s bed.
‘Mr. Tyson! John! Fayetteville Police Department, you’re not in your house,” you hear a cop yell at the dozing warden.
“I want you to wake up and talk to me before I drag you out of here naked,” the officer continues.
‘Mr. Tyson! John! Fayetteville Police Department, you’re not in your house,” an officer is heard yelling at the dozing warden during the Nov. 6 arrest
Tyson can be seen reaching for the sheets in a feeble attempt to go back to sleep before being handcuffed. “I’m going to sleep,” he said
When Tyson failed to comply, the officers pulled back the sheets, revealed the director in his boxer underwear and began handcuffing him.
After rolling over and giving birth with his hand, 32-year-old Tyson is seen pulling the sheets tight to his chin and falling back asleep.
The police issued a final warning, saying, “You have two options, one, you sit up and put on your clothes, or two, you go to jail, just as you are now.”
When Tyson failed to comply, the officers pulled back the sheets, revealed the director in his boxers, and began handcuffing him.
Tyson can be seen reaching for the sheets in a feeble attempt to go back to sleep before being handcuffed. “I’m going to sleep,” he said.
Other than saying “woah” and “stop” as the handcuffs went on, Tyson made no further statements to the officers to explain his actions.
At one point, while being led out of the house, he did ask, “Can I pee real quick?” The police rejected the request.
Earlier this week, Tyson apologized for the incident during a quarterly investor call.
“I am ashamed and I want you to know that I take full responsibility for my action,” he said.
“Whoa,” Tyson said as officers tried to handcuff him. The director did not seem to understand the situation, even after repeated explanations by the police
Aside from saying “woah” and “stop” as the handcuffs went on, Tyson made no further statements to the officers explaining his actions as seen in the video
Tyson attended Harvard and Stanford University before coming on board with the family business – he also worked as an investment banker at JP Morgan and in private equity and venture capital
Tyson also apologized to colleagues in a public memo, saying his behavior “contradicted” [his] personal values, the values of the company and the high expectations we have of each other.’
“I made a serious mistake that caused me to think deeply about the impact my actions could have on others,” he said in the memo provided to the Associated Press.
It’s not clear exactly how Tyson ended up in the woman’s home, but she told dispatchers at the time that she didn’t know him and may have accidentally left her front door open.
According to an incident report from the Fayetteville Police Department, officers received a call early Sunday morning from a woman who had come home to find a man she did not know sleeping in her bed.
When officers arrived, they tried to wake Tyson, only to find that he smelled of alcohol and was “sluggish and uncoordinated.” His clothes lay on the floor.
Tyson was taken to the Washington County Jail and charged with public intoxication and criminal misdemeanors. He was released later the same day on $415 bail and is expected to appear in court on December 1.
Tyson Foods, based in Arkansas, is worth about $24 billion. The Tyson family is worth about $3 billion
Tyson is seen in his underwear at the Washington County Sheriff’s Office after his arrest
In addition to being the great-grandson of the company’s founder, Tyson is also the son of Tyson Foods Chairman John H. Tyson.
After working as an investment banker at JP Morgan, Tyson joined Tyson Foods in 2019 and led the sustainability and corporate strategy teams.
On September 27, the Springdale, Arkansas company promoted him to executive vice president and chief financial officer.
Tyson Foods has announced that its own board members will oversee an assessment of the incident, though corporate governance experts are calling for an independent investigation.
Tyson Foods said a three-member governance committee on its board of directors will lead the review process.
According to the company’s website, the committee members are Les Balledge, former Tyson Foods general counsel; former Arkansas Governor Mike Beebe; and David Bronczek, former president of FedEx Corp.
The Tyson Foods meat company has grown into a $24 billion brand over the past three generations. John R. Tyson is the youngest CFO currently serving a Fortune and S&P 500 company
“Our independent board of directors is overseeing a thorough review of this matter and I have confidence in this independent process,” said Chief Executive Donnie King.
But experts urged Tyson Foods to hire an outside company because of John R. Tyson’s deep family ties to the company.
“The board should send a strong message that independence is important and publicly appoint an outside consultant to conduct the review,” said Paolo Volpin, a professor of finance at Drexel University in Philadelphia.
Philip Cochran, a management professor at Indiana University, said investors in the company and John R. Tyson would benefit from an outside review.
“It certainly won’t clear him, at least in the eyes of the public, if it’s simply done by the Tyson Foods board of directors,” Cochran said. “There’s too much potential to consider this a conflict of interest.”