Charles Barkley cleared in $550,000 civil suit filed by man who claimed he beat him

Jet, August 18, 1997

Charles Barkley did not start a brawl at a Cleveland nightclub and won't have to pay the man who sued him for $550,000, a jury recently ruled.

An eight-member jury, that deliberated for five hours, rejected the claim made by Jeb Tyler. Tyler, 24, said the Houston Rockets star bloodied his face with a flurry of punches, the Chicago Sun-Times reported. Tyler testified that he was trying to be a peacemaker in a nightclub altercation between his friend and Barkley when Barkley slugged him.

The incident occurred while Barkley was in Cleveland with the U.S. Olympic basketball team last summer. Olympic teammate Reggie Miller testified on videotape that Tyler took the first swing.

Barkley testified that he pushed Tyler because he was a "drunk redneck" who was threatening him. Barkley He said he thought Tyler and his friends were offended that he and Miller were with a White woman.

No criminal charges were filed.

"It's been a long week, but I am so proud that all eight of those people know that I did not do anything wrong," Barkley said after the verdict was read in Cuyahoga County (OH) Common Pleas Court.