Former Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez drunkenly attacked a 69-year-old delivery driver before being stabbed by him in self-defense, Indianapolis police said in court documents released Sunday.
Sanchez, 38, was hospitalized early Saturday after the stabbing in downtown Indianapolis. He was arrested at the hospital later that day but remained at the facility in stable condition.
The former Jets first-round pick was formally charged Sunday with battery resulting in injury, public intoxication, and unlawful entry of a motor vehicle.
“This incident should never have happened,” Marion County Prosecutor Ryan Mears said in a statement. “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.”
Investigators said the dispute began just after midnight on Saturday after the delivery man parked his vehicle in an alleyway between two hotels, the Indianapolis Star reported. Surveillance video shows Sanchez approaching the truck and opening the driver’s door, cops said.
The two then began arguing and police said both stepped out of the vehicle and began struggling in the alley, according to local Fox affiliate WXIN. Video showed Sanchez throwing the man toward a wall and later to the ground, police said.
Officers interviewed the delivery driver, who told them he tried to use pepper spray on Sanchez, but the ex-NFL star simply wiped it aside and continued advancing on him, the Star reported. The man told police it was at that point he thought, “This guy is trying to kill me” and pulled the knife, stabbing Sanchez multiple times.
First responders found Sanchez in a bar next to the alley around 12:30 a.m. Saturday and he has been hospitalized since. He was in Indianapolis as part of Fox Sports’ broadcast team for Sunday’s Las Vegas Raiders at Indianapolis Colts game. Fox announced that Brady Quinn will replace Sanchez on the call.
