Former NFL quarterback Mark Sanchez was booked and released at the Marion County Jail on Sunday, telling a reporter as he left the jail that he was focused on his recovery from stab wounds he suffered in the altercation that resulted in multiple charges against him.
Sanchez was released from an Indianapolis hospital Sunday to be processed at the jail, a condition set by the judge before Sanchez would be allowed to leave the state.
Speaking to a Fox/CBS Indianapolis reporter while leaving, Sanchez thanked the first responders, in particular the surgeon who operated on him, appearing emotional as he said she saved his life.
“Sorry I can’t answer all your questions,” Sanchez said, adding that he was recovering slowly.
The Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department confirmed Sanchez’s release.
Sanchez is facing a felony battery charge along with multiple misdemeanors after he allegedly attacked a truck driver outside a downtown Indianapolis hotel Oct. 4. Sanchez had been in the city to serve as a Fox Sports analyst for a Raiders–Colts game Oct. 5.
A police affidavit says the 38-year-old Sanchez, smelling of alcohol, accosted 69-year-old Perry Tole, who had backed his truck into the hotel’s loading docks. Tole said in a lawsuit filed Monday that Sanchez entered the truck without permission then physically blocked and shoved Tole, who doused Sanchez with pepper spray.
When Sanchez advanced after being sprayed, Tole pulled a knife to defend himself, authorities said.
Sanchez was hospitalized with stab wounds to his upper right torso, according to a police affidavit.
Tole is suing Sanchez and Fox Corp, with the lawsuit saying he sustained “severe permanent disfigurement, loss of function, other physical injuries, emotional distress and other damages” due to Sanchez’s alleged actions. A picture of Tole circulating online shows him in a neck brace on a hospital bed, covered in blood with a deep slash to the side of his face.
Authorities have said the altercation began over a parking dispute, and Marion County prosecutor Ryan Mears has said the investigation was ongoing and additional charges were possible.
The felony charge against Sanchez carries a potential sentence of one to six years in prison. The next scheduled date in the criminal court case is a pretrial conference Nov. 5.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
