Former NFL quarterback and Fox Sports analyst Mark Sanchez has been released from the hospital and was briefly booked into jail on Sunday after getting charged with felony battery.
The Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department released his mug shot the same morning. The department noted that it would normally wait until Monday, but decided to release the photo early “because of the high level of public interest.”
Last weekend in Indianapolis, Sanchez was stabbed after he allegedly attacked a truck driver while intoxicated, according to an affidavit.
The 38-year-old, who received multiple stab wounds, was placed under arrest at the hospital and initially charged with a series of misdemeanors. Now, he faces a felony charge of battery involving serious bodily injury, punishable by up to six years in prison.
“I want to be clear about this: I don’t care who you are, I don’t care what you do for a living, I don’t care where you live,” Indianapolis Police Chief Chris Bailey told reporters last week. “If you come into our city [and] commit violence, we will use all the tools at our disposal to hold you accountable.”
While leaving the Marion County Jail, Sanchez told a reporter that he wanted to thank the first responders as well as his surgeon, who he said “saved my life.”
“I’m just focused on my recovery,” Sanchez said, walking with his right arm held in a sling.
Sanchez was in town for the NFL game between the Las Vegas Raiders and the Indianapolis Colts at Lucas Oil Stadium last Sunday when he approached the driver, Perry Tole, who was making a delivery at a nearby Westin Hotel loading dock, according to a court affidavit.
Sanchez allegedly told Tole that he and his truck could not be at that loading dock. Surveillance footage then showed Sanchez running after Tole, who had darted for his truck door, and Sanchez “grabbing and throwing [Tole] towards the wall of the Westin,” the affidavit stated.
The driver then tried to pepper spray Sanchez, and when Sanchez still “came at him,” Tole pulled out his knife and stabbed him, believing he was in a “life or death situation,” according to the affidavit.
Marion County Prosecutor Ryan Mears had said that Tole, 69, sustained “significant and very severe injuries as a result” of the altercation.
Aside from his felony charge, Sanchez’s three misdemeanor counts include battery with injury, public intoxication and unlawful entrance of a vehicle.
Tole also sued Sanchez and Fox Corp. on Monday, alleging he was the victim of the assault and repeating the prosecutors’ allegations. The lawsuit didn’t specify a dollar amount for damages.
Sanchez had a decadelong career in the NFL, playing for the New York Jets, the Philadelphia Eagles, the Dallas Cowboys, the Denver Broncos and the Chicago Bears before retiring in 2019.
Sanchez then worked as a commentator for ESPN and later joined Fox Sports in 2021 as game analyst.
