Former NFL quarterback and current Fox Sports analyst Mark Sanchez is now facing a Level 5 felony battery charge following an incident in downtown Indianapolis over the weekend. Sanchez had originally been charged with battery resulting in injury, unlawful entry of a motor vehicle, and public intoxication.
Marion County prosecutor Ryan Mears announced the upgraded charge Monday morning, saying Sanchez, 38, faces a Level 5 felony charge of battery involving serious bodily injury. Punishment can range from one to six years in prison. According to Mears, “one of the challenges you have in a case like this is that you are dealing with individuals who are receiving medical care and that’s, obviously, the most important thing, that individuals are treated appropriately. But once we were provided with additional information about the victim’s current medical condition, it became clear to us that additional charges needed to be filed. .. Certainly the thing that stands out to us is that this was a situation that did not need to occur .. We’re literally talking about people fighting over a parking space or a dispute about where people were parking and it resulted in a person with incredibly significant injures.”
Investigators say the confrontation began around 12:30 a.m. Saturday near Loughmiller’s Pub & Eatery in downtown Indianapolis. The disagreement over parking escalated into a physical fight, with court documents indicating that Sanchez advanced toward the 69-year-old truck driver, who told police he feared for his life, saying, “This guy is trying to kill me.” The affidavit notes that the fight intensified near a loading dock, where the truck driver said he feared for his safety and used pepper spray on Sanchez before the stabbing occurred. The truck driver claims he stabbed Sanchez two or three times in the upper torso, as Sanchez continued moving toward him. The driver said he was then thrown against a dumpster and believed he was in a life-or-death struggle. TA witness at the scene reported seeing both men recording each other on their phones before the fight broke out. Sanchez was rushed to Eskenazi Hospital, where he was listed in critical condition.
Mears said his office received an amended probable cause affidavit (obtained by CBS News) on Monday which led to the additional charge, because the truck driver suffered serious injuries. He added that prosecutors are still investigating the incident and that Sanchez could face additional charges.
Detective Christopher Edwards, who interviewed Sanchez at the hospital, reported that the former quarterback said he did not remember the details of the incident. Sanchez had been scheduled for a court hearing Tuesday on the original charges but that was rescheduled to Nov. 4. Sanchez remains hospitalized and was listed in stable condition as of Monday morning.
Indianapolis Police Chief Chris Bailey said: “I don’t care who you are. I don’t care what you do for a living. I don’t care where you live. If you come into our city and commit violence, we’ll use all the tools at our disposal to hold you accountable .. As we move forward, [our] PD will continue to maintain our strong, visible presence in downtown on those high-visibility, high-traffic weekends at major events to make sure our community is safe. I continue to urge our community to respect one another. As the prosecutor said, this did not need to happen; it did not.”
Mears said Indiana’s self-defense laws will likely play a significant role as the case moves forward: “Well, certainly, Indiana has some of the robust self-defense laws in the nation, and that’s always going to be part of the equation when you evaluate cases like this and try to determine exactly what took place … It will certainly be at the center of this particular trial as well when we have conversations about were people acting reasonably or not. Those are all things you need to consider in terms of when you make that initial charging decision and those facts have been evaluated. Self-defesne laws will be raised at trial.”
Sanchez was in Indianapolis to serve as a broadcaster for Sunday’s NFL game between the Las Vegas Raiders and the Indianapolis Colts at Lucas Oil Stadium. The ex-quarterback played eight seasons in the NFL after being selected fifth by the New York Jets in the 2009 draft out of USC, helping NY to advance to back-to-back AFC Championship Games in his first two seasons. Sanchez also played for the Philadelphia Eagles, Dallas Cowboys and Washington, last appearing in a regular-season game in 2018.
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