Former NFL quarterback and FOX Sports analyst Mark Sanchez’s weekend just went from bad to worse: after being stabbed repeatedly in a downtown Indianapolis brawl, he’s now staring down the very real possibility of prison time.
Sanchez, 38, had been scheduled to call Sunday’s Colts–Raiders game.
Sanchez was hospitalized with stab wounds to his upper torso. While early coverage emphasized an outpouring of support, prosecutors later disclosed further details. Three misdemeanors — battery with injury, unlawful entry of a motor vehicle, and public intoxication — were filed, and on Monday morning prosecutors added a felony count: battery resulting in serious bodily injury, a Level 5 offense carrying a potential sentence of one to six years.
Sanchez posted bond but remains hospitalized.
Court records paint a grim picture: Sanchez went after a 69-year-old truck driver, “P.T.,” who was collecting used cooking oil at the Westin hotel. Security video allegedly shows Sanchez blocking the man’s truck and aggressively trailing him before the fight broke out.
Police say the driver attempted to pepper-spray Sanchez after he forced his way inside his vehicle. Believing “this guy is trying to kill me,” P.T. pulled a knife. Both men lived, but the driver was left bloodied, with deep cuts to his face and tongue. Warning: the photos are graphic.
The much larger Sánchez — 6’2”, 232 pounds, and allegedly slurring his words — told him he “wasn’t allowed” to be there before the altercation turned violent.
As Yahoo! Sports reports:
P.T. reportedly went to the opposite loading dock of the Marriott Downtown hotel in an attempt to flag down security officers, then back to the passenger side of his truck, again with Sanchez following him and then blocking him from the truck. P.T. said he went back around to the driver’s side to get his cell phone and Sanchez again followed him, shoving him back.
That’s allegedly when the situation became violent:
P. T. realized things had escalated, and he was now in physical danger, so he reached into his pocket and grabbed his pepper spray and sprayed Mr. Sanchez in the face. P. T. said that the pepper spray appeared to have an effect on Mr. Sanchez for a moment, but Mr. Sanchez wiped his face and again advanced towards P. T. P. T. thought “this guy is trying to kill me” so he pulled his knife and when Mr. Sanchez came at him, P. T. went at Mr. Sanchez and struck him two or three times with the knife. P. T. said he found himself flying back into the dumpster and falling onto the pallets on the ground.
Sanchez allegedly kept striking or punching P.T. until the man got up and stabbed him one more time, at which point Sanchez looked shocked and ran away in an alley. He was later found at Loughmiller’s Pub and Eatery, a nearby bar.
Prosecutors stressed the case remains under investigation, and Sanchez is presumed innocent until proven guilty.
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Get drunk do dumb stuff. Probably lose your cushy job.