INDIANAPOLIS — An Indianapolis judge on Wednesday confirmed Dec. 11 as the trial date for Fox Sports analyst and former NFL player Mark Sanchez, who is charged with attacking and seriously injuring a truck driver outside a hotel in what prosecutors say was a dispute over a parking place.
“Thank you for allowing our client to be excused from today’s hearing,” defense attorney Tim DeLaney told the judge, who also set another hearing for Nov. 20 and confirmed the next pretrial conference date for Dec. 2. “He’s still recovering from the injuries he sustained.”
Most of those dates were set earlier, but they’re all subject to change. DeLaney said Sanchez’s recovery process is ongoing and might impact the schedule. Prosecutors expressed doubt afterward that Dec. 11 is a realistic trial date.
Sanchez has been off the air since the Oct. 4 incident at the Westin Hotel in downtown Indianapolis. He was in town for the weekend’s game between the Colts and the Las Vegas Raiders. Sanchez was stabbed in the chest and spent a week in a hospital. The trucker, who claims self-defense and has not been charged, is suing him and Fox Sports for unspecified damages.
Prosecutors charged Sanchez with a felony count of battery involving serious bodily injury, along with three misdemeanor charges, including public intoxication. He declined to address the allegations as he left the hospital with an arm in a sling Oct. 12.
“I’m just focused on my recovery, and I just want to thank the first responders,” Sanchez told Indianapolis station Fox59. “… But I’m focused on my recovery, and I just want to see my wife, I want to see my son, my two baby girls. There’ll be a day to answer all these questions, and unfortunately, today is not that day.”
A detective’s affidavit says Sanchez, 38, accosted Perry Tole, 69, who had backed his truck into the hotel’s loading dock. Tole, who drives for a cooking oil service company, told police that Sanchez smelled of alcohol and his speech was slurred. He said Sanchez entered his truck without permission, then physically blocked and shoved Tole, who then hit Sanchez with pepper spray.
Security video shows Sanchez throwing Tole toward a wall of the hotel and to the ground, before running off, the affidavit says. Police found him at a restaurant on the same block.
Sanchez had a 10-year NFL career before retiring in 2019. He spent four seasons with the New York Jets and also played for Philadelphia, Dallas and Washington. He appeared on ABC and ESPN before joining Fox Sports as a game analyst in 2021.
Defense attorneys left without taking questions from reporters.
When Sanchez advanced despite being sprayed, Tole pulled a knife to defend himself, he told police.