• Former NFL quarterback faces felony battery charge after October confrontation outside Indianapolis hotel
• Sanchez was stabbed in chest and hospitalized for week while truck driver claims self-defense
• Defense attorney says Sanchez still recovering from injuries sustained in parking dispute

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. (TDR) — An Indianapolis judge on Wednesday confirmed Dec. 11 as the trial date for Fox Sports analyst and former NFL player Mark Sanchez, who’s charged with attacking and seriously injuring a truck driver outside a hotel in what prosecutors say was a dispute over a parking place. The pretrial conference lasted only about 2 1/2 minutes, with Sanchez not required to attend as he continues recovering from injuries.

“Thank you for allowing our client to be excused from today’s hearing. He’s still recovering from the injuries he sustained,” 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. Most dates were set earlier but remain subject to change, with DeLaney noting Sanchez’s recovery process is ongoing and may impact the schedule.

Incident left both men injured

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Sanchez has been off the air since the Oct. 4 incident at the Westin Hotel in downtown Indianapolis. The 38-year-old was in town for the weekend’s game between the Colts and the Las Vegas Raiders when the confrontation occurred. Sanchez was stabbed in the chest and spent a week in a hospital before being released with his arm in a sling Oct. 12.

The truck driver, 69-year-old Perry Tole, who claims self-defense and has not been charged, is suing him and Fox Sports for unspecified damages. Tole drives for a cooking oil service company and told police he had backed his truck into the hotel’s loading dock when the altercation began.

A detective’s affidavit says Sanchez accosted Tole, who told police that Sanchez smelled of alcohol and his speech was slurred. Tole said Sanchez entered his truck without permission, then physically blocked and shoved him, prompting Tole to hit Sanchez with pepper spray. When Sanchez advanced despite being sprayed, Tole pulled a knife to defend himself.

Prosecutors detail serious injuries

Security video shows Sanchez throwing Tole toward a wall on the hotel and to the ground before running off, the affidavit says. Police found him at a restaurant on the same block. Prosecutors charged Sanchez with a felony count of battery involving serious bodily injury, along with three misdemeanor charges, including public intoxication.

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“We are literally talking about people fighting over a parking space and — or a dispute about where people are parking, and it resulted in someone receiving just incredibly significant injures,” Marion County prosecutor Ryan Mears told reporters Oct. 6.

Sanchez declined to address the allegations when leaving the hospital. “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.”

Sanchez remains free on bond and the court allowed him to return home to California. Prosecutors expressed doubt afterward that Dec. 11 is a realistic trial date given the ongoing circumstances.

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. Fox Sports has said little publicly about the incident beyond a brief social media statement requesting privacy for Sanchez and his family.

Can Sanchez’s broadcasting career survive felony charges stemming from a parking dispute?

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