A 69-year-old delivery driver alleged to have stabbed former NFL quarterback Mark Sanchez said he feared that “this guy is trying to kill me” so he acted in self-defense, according to court records filed on Sunday.
The altercation early Saturday morning in an alley in downtown Indianapolis led to Sanchez, 38, going to a hospital for stabs wound to his upper right torso as well as being charged by the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police with misdemeanor counts of battery with injury, unlawful entry of a motor vehicle and public intoxication.
Sanchez, who was in Indianapolis as a Fox Sports analyst for the host Colts game against the Las Vegas Raiders, remained in a hospital early Sunday. He was replaced on the broadcast by another former quarterback, Brady Quinn, in the Colts’ 40-6 victory Sunday afternoon at Lucas Oil Stadium.
“This incident should never have happened,” Marion County Prosecutor Ryan Mears said in a statement on Sunday. “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. As with any case, we will follow the facts and the law wherever they lead.”
According to court documents, Sanchez and the other man, identified by his initials “PT,” got into a dispute near Loughmiller’s Pub & Eatery. The driver’s truck was parked at a loading dock to collect used cooking oil, and Sanchez opened the driver’s door to talk to him, per surveillance video.
The driver wasn’t wearing his hearing aids and struggled to hear him. When he leaned in, he thought Sanchez smelled of alcohol and his speech was slurred, he told police later in an affidavit.
Indianapolis police wrote in an affidavit that Sanchez ran after the driver, grabbed him and threw him toward the wall of a hotel, leading to a brawl.
After Sanchez threw him to the ground, according to the police investigation’s report, the driver “realized things had escalated, and he was now in physical danger,” he told police per the court documents.
The driver used pepper spray on Sanchez, who kept advancing, so he pulled out his knife in self-defense and struck him two or three times, he told police.
The driver, who sustained a laceration to his left cheek, per court documents, said Sanchez looked shocked and ran out of the alley. The driver was treated and released from Methodist Hospital, according to The Indianapolis Star.
Sanchez was found by responding officers in a bar next to the alley and was rushed to Eskenazi Hospital in critical condition and later upgraded to stable condition. He has been released from the hospital, TMZ Sports reported on Sunday evening.
Police wrote in an affidavit that Sanchez told them in the hospital that he didn’t remember what happened.
Fox Sports acknowledged Sanchez’s stabbing and arrest during its national pregame shows and during game coverage. Both Charissa Thompson, host of “Fox NFL Kickoff” on Sunday morning and “Fox NFL Sunday” host Curt Menefee said the Fox Sports team was “still trying to wrap our heads around” what happened and their “thoughts and prayers are with Mark Sanchez, his family and all of those involved.”
Sanchez was selected by the New York Jets with the fifth overall pick of the 2009 NFL Draft and guided the club to two straight AFC Championship Game appearances. He posted a 37-36 record and threw for 15,357 yards with 86 touchdowns and 89 interceptions with the Jets, Philadelphia Eagles, Dallas Cowboys and the Washington franchise.
In college, Sanchez was a big star for Southern California in 2008, when he passed for 3,207 yards, 34 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. The Trojans went 12-1 and finished the campaign as the No. 3 team in the country.
