Former USC quarterback Mark Sanchez is dealing with a felony cost after his bodily altercation with a 69-year-old truck driver this weekend left the opposite man with what the prosecuting lawyer described Monday as “important and really extreme” accidents.
Marion County, Ind., prosecutor Ryan Mears instructed reporters at a information convention Monday that the 38-year-old former NFL participant and present Fox Sports activities analyst was being charged with a stage 5 felony of battery involving severe bodily harm, which Mears mentioned may lead to one to 6 years in jail.
After a preliminary possible trigger affidavit was filed by the IMPD on Saturday, Sanchez was charged with three misdemeanors — battery leading to harm, unauthorized entry of a motorcar and public intoxication.
Additional investigation by the IMPD preceded the submitting of a second possible trigger affidavit Monday morning, which led to the felony cost in opposition to Sanchez.
“As soon as we had been supplied with extra details about the sufferer’s present medical situation, it turned clear to us that extra expenses wanted to be filed,” Mears mentioned in the course of the joint press convention with Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Division chief Chris Bailey.
Mears added that it’s potential that extra expenses may come linked to the incident that occurred late Friday night time and into early Saturday morning in an alley exterior a downtown Indianapolis resort.
“One of many issues that I’m going to emphasize to all people is that we’re nonetheless within the early phases of this investigation,” Mears mentioned. “Chief and his crew have quite a lot of search warrants which might be nonetheless excellent. They’re nonetheless monitoring down extra info. That is, under no circumstances, the top of this investigation. This, under no circumstances, signifies that these are going to be ultimate expenses that we transfer ahead with.”
An preliminary court docket listening to scheduled for Tuesday morning has been postponed till Nov. 4, ESPN reviews, as Sanchez stays hospitalized and in secure situation.
Based on the primary IMPD affidavit, which was primarily based on resort surveillance footage and a press release the truck driver gave to the police, Sanchez accosted the driving force of a field truck that had backed into the resort’s loading docks.
Sanchez, who was on the town to name Sunday’s Raiders-Colts recreation for Fox Sports activities, allegedly smelled of alcohol on the time.
Through the ensuing altercation, Sanchez threw the person towards a wall and in addition onto the bottom, the affidavit mentioned, earlier than the driving force, believing he was in peril, sprayed Sanchez with pepper spray and ultimately stabbed him.
The truck driver suffered a laceration on his left cheek and was taken to a unique hospital than Sanchez, the affidavit mentioned. Max Lewis of WXIN-TV in Indianapolis reported Sunday that the driving force’s household, which wished to stay nameless, mentioned that the reduce “went by way of his cheek and hit his tongue,” making speech tough.
Lewis additionally posted images he mentioned had been supplied by the household that confirmed the driving force in a hospital mattress with sheets that appeared to have a number of blood stains on them close to the world of the reduce on the person’s cheek. The person, whose eyes have been blackened out to guard his id, is sporting what seems to be a neck brace and is attached to screens.
Afterward Sunday, relations instructed the New York Publish of the driving force, “He’s O.Okay.”
They added: “We’re speaking to legal professionals first. We need to watch out what’s mentioned.”
Based on the primary affidavit, the driving force was on the loading as a part of his job with an organization that recycles and disposes of business cooking oil. Sanchez allegedly confronted him and mentioned that the resort supervisor had instructed Sanchez he didn’t need the driving force to switch the cooking oil.
“Definitely the factor that stands out to us is that this was a state of affairs that didn’t must happen,” Mears mentioned. “… We’re actually speaking about individuals preventing over a parking house or a dispute about the place individuals are parking, and it resulted in somebody receiving simply extremely important accidents.”
The Related Press contributed to this report.
