Former NFL quarterback Mark Sanchez is now facing upgraded felony charges stemming from a violent weekend altercation that left him and another man hospitalized, prosecutors announced Monday.
Sanchez, who is now a Fox Sports analyst, was stabbed during a fight, while a 69-year-old man sustained serious injuries, according to a probable cause affidavit.
Sanchez was initially charged on October 4 with misdemeanor counts of battery resulting in injury, public intoxication, and unlawful entry of a motor vehicle. His cash bond was set at $300. The upgraded felony charge was filed Monday. A hearing is set for October 7, according to online court records.
“We are literally talking about people fighting about a parking spot,” Marion County Prosecutor Ryan Mears said during a news conference announcing the more serious charge.
The two men got into a dispute just before 12:30 a.m. Saturday in downtown Indianapolis, near Loughmiller’s Pub & Eatery, after Sanchez got upset at the other man for parking his work box truck at a loading dock to collect used cooking oil, according to court documents.
Surveillance video captured Sanchez approaching the driver’s door of the truck to speak with the man inside, who was struggling to hear him because he wasn’t wearing his hearing aids, according to a probable cause affidavit. Sanchez allegedly then climbed into the truck before a fight broke out. Video from the scene shows Sanchez then following the man as he backed away from him.
"Sanchez is seen running after (the man) and the video shows Mr. Sanchez grabbing and throwing (the man) towards the wall of the Westin," police wrote in the affidavit.
The brawl ensued in the alley between a dumpster and the truck before moving toward the middle of the alley.
"Mr. Sanchez is then seen throwing (the man) to the ground on the west side of the alley," investigators wrote.
The man told police that he “realized things had escalated, and he was now in physical danger,” according to court documents.
He then used pepper spray on Sanchez, telling police it ”appeared to have an effect (on Sanchez) for a moment,” but that he “wiped his face and again advanced” toward him.
The man told police that, in that moment, he thought, “This guy is trying to kill me,” so he pulled out his knife. When Sanchez came at him, he struck him two or three times with the knife, he told police.
The man said Sanchez looked at him “with a look of shock” before taking off, heading north out of the alley. Responding officers found Sanchez inside a bar next to the alley.
Sanchez later told a detective that he could barely remember anything about the incident, including who was involved or where it happened. He was later arrested at the hospital and charged with the misdemenors.
Mears said it was “clear” that additional charges needed to be filed after authorities were “were provided with additional information about the victim's current medical condition.” He added that it was “by no means the end of this investigation.”
The sentence for the felony charge could be one to six years, according to Mears.
Sanchez, who joined Fox as an analyst in 2021, had been in Indianapolis to call Sunday’s Colts game against the Las Vegas Raiders.
Before transitioning to a broadcasting career, Sanchez played 10 seasons in the NFL, most notably with the New York Jets, after being drafted fifth overall in the 2009 NFL Draft.
“I don’t care who you are. I don’t care what you do for a living,” Indianapolis Police Chief Chris Bailey said, adding: “We’re lucky that no one is dead.”
“I don’t care where you live. If you come into our city, commit violence, we will use all the tools that are at our disposal to hold you accountable,” he said.
