John R. Tyson, the suspended chief financial officer of Tyson Foods Inc., pleaded not guilty Monday to charges including drunk driving and careless driving.
The company’s chairman’s 34-year-old son was arrested by the University of Arkansas Police Department on June 13.
According to the police report, officers observed Tyson making an improper U-turn and flipping a silver SUV onto the curb and onto a lawn. Tyson’s eyes appeared to be bloodshot and he smelled of alcohol on his breath, the report said.
The Arkansas-based meat processing giant immediately suspended Tyson, the fourth-generation chief executive, and named financial executive Kurt Calaway as interim CFO.
His trial is scheduled for late August, according to the Fayetteville District Court.
Tyson Foods did not respond to a request for comment.
This isn’t the first time the founder’s great-grandson, who rose to fame in October 2022 when he became the youngest CFO of a Fortune 500 company, has caused trouble for Tyson Foods.
He was arrested on suspicion of public intoxication and trespassing at 1:32 a.m. ET on Nov. 6, 2022, after Arkansas State Police found him partially naked and unconscious in bed at the college student woman’s home, records show.
According to the police report, the woman discovered “an unknown male asleep in her bed” and called police to report a possible robbery.
Local police said Tyson’s breath smelled of drugs and his movements were “slow and disorganized.”
Authorities said tests showed his blood alcohol level was twice the legal limit.
The scandal was captured on police body camera footage and published by TMZ and other media outlets.
Tyson’s heir, a former JPMorgan investment banker and Ivy League graduate with degrees from Harvard and Stanford, initially pleaded not guilty in the case but later agreed to plead guilty and pay a $440 fine.
