Former Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez may have been under the influence of several illicit drugs during his violent encounter with a truck driver in Indianapolis last year, at least according to court documents filed by the alleged victim.
Sanchez, 39, is facing a felony charge of battery involving serious bodily injury and three misdemeanors in connection with the altercation in the early hours of Oct. 4.
The former Fox Sports analyst had been in the city to cover the next day’s game between the Indianapolis Colts and the Las Vegas Raiders. He’d been out in downtown when police say he confronted a truck driver named Perry Tole, after he backed his vehicle into the Westin Hotel’s loading docks just after midnight.
According to a probable cause affidavit, Tole told authorities Sanchez started harassing him about parking in the alley, attempted multiple times to climb into the cab of his truck and then knocked him down when he reached for his cellphone.
Fearing Sanchez was “trying to kill [him],” Tole said he grabbed pepper spray and used that in a bid to fend him off. When that didn’t work, Tole fought back in self-defense and eventually pulled out a knife and stabbed the former athlete.
Police accused Sanchez of being drunk and “acting erratically” at the time, while surveillance video later showed him stumbling around the area for roughly 20 minutes before the attack.
But Tole, who worked for a company that exchanges commercial frying oil, has since accused the Jets superstar of also being high on “one or more” drugs.
In recently filed court documents obtained by Indianapolis Fox affiliate WXIN, Tole’s attorneys allege Sanchez may have taken “multiple illegal substances … including but not limited to cocaine, marijuana [and/or] fentanyl.”
His lawyers did not provide specific evidence to support those claims other than citing a “preliminary investigation” into the altercation. They’re pushing for further legal discovery to disclose the extent of Sanchez’s intoxication.
Following the confrontation, the ex-Jet was hospitalized for more than a week with stab wounds to his upper right torso.
Tole, 69, was also treated for serious injuries to his head and neck. Graphic photos shared with several local outlets show him lying in a hospital bed with a neck brace and a deep laceration on his left cheek.
Roughly a month after his arrest, Sanchez was fired by Fox Sports and replaced by Drew Brees as an analyst on the No. 4 NFL crew.
Sanchez has remained mum on the incident, though his family addressed his firing in November.
“While the recent news — and its timing — is understandably disappointing, our priority remains his continued healing and recovery,” his brother, Nick Sanchez Jr., said in a statement. “Mark deeply values his time at FOX and the exceptional colleagues he’s had the privilege to work with. Those relationships are meaningful and will endure.”
A trial in the case is scheduled to begin in mid-March. If convicted on the felony battery charge, Sanchez could face up to six years in prison.
