Dec. 11 trial set for Fox Sports analyst Mark Sanchez on charge of attacking truck driver

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — 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. Sanchez, who was more seriously hurt in the confrontation, was not required to be present and did not enter a plea.

“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 of those dates were set earlier, but they’re all subject to change. DeLaney said Sanchez’s recovery process is ongoing and may impact the schedule. Prosecutors expressed doubt afterward that Dec. 11 is a realistic trial date.

Defense attorneys left without taking questions from reporters.

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 his arm in a sling Oct. 12.

“I’m just focused on my recovery and I just want to thank the first responders. … 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,” Sanchez told Indianapolis station Fox59. “There’ll be a day to answer all these questions, and unfortunately, today is not that day.”

Sanchez remains free on bond. The court allowed him to return home to California.

A detective’s affidavit says the 38-year-old Sanchez accosted 69-year-old Perry Tole, 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.

When Sanchez advanced despite being sprayed, Tole told police, he pulled a knife to defend himself.

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.

“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 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, except for a brief statement immediately afterward.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with Mark, and we ask that everyone please respect his and his family’s privacy during this time,” the network said in a social media post.

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Karnowski reported from Minneapolis.