IMPD, prosecutor detail weekend’s Mark Sanchez stabbing investigation
IMPD Chief Chris Bailey and Marion County Prosecutor Ryan Mears share details in the weekend’s Mark Sanchez stabbing investigation.
After more than a week in an Indianapolis hospital, where he was recovering from serious injuries after being stabbed, Fox Sports analyst and former NFL quarterback Mark Sanchez was released.
He went to get processed by the Marion County Sheriff’s Office, according to police.
Sanchez was stabbed on Oct. 4, after he allegedly attacked Perry Tole, a 69-year-old driver working to collect used cooking oil out of The Westin Indianapolis hotel. Tole was parked in the hotel’s loading dock when Sanchez confronted him about a parking spot, according to court documents.
Sanchez is facing a level 5 felony battery resulting in serious bodily injury charge and three misdemeanor charges, battery resulting in injury, public intoxication, and unlawful entry of a motor vehicle.
“This has been a deeply distressing time for everyone involved. Mark and our family are incredibly grateful for the concern, love, and support we’ve received over the past few days,” Sanchez’s family said in a statement on Oct. 6.
An initial hearing in the case set for Oct. 7 was waived. The next hearing scheduled in the case is a pretrial conference set for Nov. 5.
Tole was released from the hospital last week and is now recovering at home, his attorneys, Erik May and Eddie Reichert, said in an interview with TMZ.
“He’s recovering and that’s the best way to put it,” May said in the interview with TMZ. “The pictures really show the degree of harm that Perry suffered as a result of this attack.”
Hours after the Marion County Prosecutor’s Office upgraded Sanchez’s misdemeanor case to a felony charge of battery resulting in serious bodily injury, Tole filed a case for civil damages in the Marion Superior Court.
Tole “suffered severe permanent disfigurement” as a result of the attack. His head, jaw, and neck were badly injured, according to the lawsuit.
Details of the stabbing outside a downtown Indianapolis pub
Court documents revealed that the fight started shortly before 12:30 a.m. Oct. 4 in downtown Indianapolis after Sanchez confronted Tole who had parked his work box truck at a loading dock to collect used cooking oil.
Video from the Indianapolis Marriott Downtown shows Sanchez grabbing and throwing the man in an alleyway near Loughmiller’s Pub & Eatery, according to court documents.
The man told police that he pepper-sprayed Sanchez, but the former NFL quarterback just wiped it away.
Thinking that Sanchez was “trying to kill” him, the man pulled out his knife and struck Sanchez two or three times, according to police.
The man suffered injuries to his left cheek and was treated and released from the hospital, police said. Sanchez was taken to the hospital in critical condition, but was later listed as stable.
Who is Mark Sanchez?
Sanchez led the Pac-10 in yards passing and touchdown passes as a quarterback at the University of Southern California from 2006 to 2008. He was selected as a first-round, fifth-overall pick by the New York Jets in the 2009 NFL Draft.
For the bulk of his career, Sanchez played under center for the Jets, going 33-29. He later played for the Philadelphia Eagles, Dallas Cowboys and Washington, before retiring in 2019.
Sanchez joined Fox as an analyst in 2021.
Noe Padilla is a public safety reporter for IndyStar. Contact him at npadilla@indystar.com, follow him on X @1NoePadilla or on Bluesky @noepadilla.bsky.social. Jade Jackson is a public safety reporter for the Indianapolis Star. You can email her at Jade.Jackson@IndyStar.com and follow her on X, formerly Twitter @IAMJADEJACKSON.