Mark Sanchez, the Fox Sports commentator and former New York Jets quarterback, has been sued by an alleged victim and is being charged with felony battery following what Indiana prosecutors described as a fight with a man over a parking space early Saturday morning.
In addition to misdemeanor charges he was already facing, Sanchez, 38, is being charged with battery involving serious bodily injury to Perry Tole, a 69-year-old Indiana resident who was doing his job duties for a cooking oil disposal company when the incident occurred in Indianapolis, prosecutors said Monday.
Tole has sued Sanchez for assault/battery, saying he caused him “severe permanent disfigurement, loss of function, other physical injuries, emotional distress, and other damages.”
He’s also sued Fox, where Sanchez works as a commentator, saying the company knew or should have known about Sanchez’s “unfitness as an employee, propensity for drinking and/or harmful conduct.
Fox Sports did not immediately respond when reached for comment.
Graphic photos released Sunday show Tole hospitalized with severe gashes on his face.
The felony charge carries a penalty of one to six years in prison, Marion County prosecutor Ryan Mears said at a press conference.
“The thing that stands stands out to us is this was a situation that did not need to occur. The allegations involve a 38-year-old man becoming involved in an altercation with a 69-year-old man who sustained significant and very severe injuries as a result of that altercation,” Mears said.
“We are literally talking about people fighting over a parking space or a dispute about where people are parking,” he continued.
According to Tole’s lawsuit, an apparently intoxicated Sanchez approached Tole near the loading dock of a hotel, instigating a fight about whether Tole was allowed at the location. Sanchez allegedly forced his way into Tole’s work truck, blocked Tole from exiting, took his cell phone and shoved him, leading Tole to use pepper spray on Sanchez in self-defense.
In response, the lawsuit says, Sanchez caused “significant” injuries to Tole’s head, jaw and neck, leaving him “bleeding profusely.”
“We're lucky that no one's dead right now as a result of this incident.”
- Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department Chief Chris Bailey
“We’re lucky that no one’s dead right now as a result of this incident,” Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department Chief Chris Bailey said at Monday’s press conference.
According to a police affidavit in the case, Tole pulled a knife on Sanchez to protect his own life, striking the former quarterback several times when he “realized that he was in a life-or-death situation.” Police confirmed Sanchez had several stab wounds to his torso.
Mears noted Monday that “Indiana has some of the most robust self defense laws in the nation.”
Lawyers for Sanchez say he remains hospitalized and released a statement from his family calling this a “deeply distressing time for everyone involved.”
Bailey also suggested that Sanchez’s fame would not protect him from facing consequences.
“I want to be clear about this: I don’t care who you are, I don’t care what you do for a living, I don’t care where you live,” Bailey said. “If you come into our city, commit violence, we will use all the tools at our disposal to hold you accountable.”