INDIANAPOLIS -- Former NFL quarterback Mark Sanchez was pepper-sprayed and stabbed multiple times during a late-night altercation with a 69-year-old truck driver in a downtown Indianapolis alley, which resulted in criminal charges against the Fox Sports analyst, according to court records filed Sunday.
Based on hotel video footage of the altercation early Saturday and the driver's statement to police, a police affidavit alleges that Sanchez, smelling of alcohol, accosted the driver of a box truck that backed into a hotel's loading docks, leading to a confrontation outside the vehicle that prompted the driver to defensively pull out a knife.
Sanchez was hospitalized with stab wounds to his upper right torso, the affidavit signed by a police detective said. Sanchez remained hospitalized early Sunday, according to police. The truck driver, identified as P.T., had a cut to his left cheek, it said.
Sanchez was in stable condition, Fox Sports said Saturday. There was no immediate update Sunday.
His initial court hearing was set for Tuesday.
As the altercation escalated, the driver feared "'this guy is trying to kill me'" and pulled his knife as Sanchez came at him, the affidavit said. Sanchez was initially stabbed two or three times, then stabbed again when he went at the driver again, it said.
"The next thing P.T. knew was Mr. Sanchez looked at him with a look of shock, he slowly turned around, and Mr. Sanchez took off northbound in the alley," the document said.
Sanchez was in Indianapolis to call Sunday’s Raiders-Colts game. Instead, he was charged with battery resulting in injury, unauthorized entry of a motor vehicle and public intoxication - all misdemeanors. Police got a warrant to obtain Sanchez's phone and clothes from the hospital, the document said.
There were no immediate court records indicating whether Sanchez had legal representation yet.
Marion County Prosecutor Ryan Mears said Sunday that his office would "follow the facts and the law wherever they lead."
"What began as a disagreement between a 38-year-old former professional athlete and a 69-year-old man should not have escalated into violence or left anyone seriously injured," Mears said in a statement.
Sanchez told police at the hospital that all he could remember was grabbing for a window, the court document said. Sanchez said he didn't know who else was involved or where the altercation happened.
"Friday night in Indianapolis, one of our team members, Mark Sanchez, was involved in an incident that, to be honest, we are still trying to wrap our heads around," Curt Menefee said Sunday on Fox's primary NFL pregame show. "At this time our thoughts and prayers are with Mark and his family and all of those involved."
Fox Sports play-by-play announcer Chris Myers also acknowledged Sanchez's absence on Sunday before introducing Sanchez's replacement, Brady Quinn. Myers said he wanted to send thoughts and prayers to Sanchez and everyone involved in the incident.
Sanchez had a 10-year NFL career before retiring in 2019. He appeared on ABC and ESPN for two years before joining Fox Sports as a game analyst in 2021. The Long Beach, California, native starred at Southern California before he was selected by the New York Jets with the fifth pick in the 2009 NFL draft. Sanchez also appeared in games with Philadelphia, Dallas and Washington.
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