Prosecutor upgrades charges against former NFL QB Mark Sanchez to Level 5 felony

INDIANAPOLIS - At a press conference on Monday, Marion County Prosecutor Ryan Mears filed more serious charges against former NFL quarterback Mark Sanchez for his involvement in a stabbing incident early Saturday.




Sanchez was previously charged on Sunday while recovering in the hospital with several misdemeanors after details came out accusing him of being the aggressor in the incident.




Mears said after seeing the extent of the victim's injuries, along with factoring in the victim's age, the prosecutor moved to upgrade Sanchez's charges to a Level 5 felony battery of causing serious injury. Sanchez still also faces multiple criminal misdemenaors including public intoxication and unlawful entry of a motor vehicle.




"This is by no means the end of this investigation," Mears added.




The prosecutor praised the investigation spearheaded by the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department, which included numerous witness accounts and surveillance video from a "very well covered" area of downtown Indianapolis.




"I don't care who you are, I don't care what you do for a living, I don't care where you live, if you come into our city and commit violence, we will use all the tools at our disposal to hold you accountable," said IMPD Chief Chris Bailey during the presser.




The stabbing drew widespread national coverage over the weekend with FOX59/CBS4 breaking exclusive details into the events of the stabbing.




Accounts from witnesses, the victim and police investigation painted Sanchez as the aggressor in the attack, with the 69-year-old victim telling police he stabbed Sanchez in self-defense due to being attacked by the larger man and thinking "this guy is trying to kill me."




The incident occurred early Saturday morning, at 12:30 a.m., in an alley between the Westin Hotel and the Indianapolis Marriott Downtown. Surveillance footage shows Sanchez jogging back and forth in the alley before approaching a box truck that was backed into a loading dock.




The 69-year-old box truck driver told police he was working, collecting grease from the hotel, when Sanchez forced his way into the box truck. Sanchez kept insisting the older man move his vehicle and claimed to have spoken to the hotel manager.




The victim told police he was confused, thinking the well-dressed Sanchez might be the hotel manager, but tried to call his supervisor. Sanchez allegedly block the older man from calling his manager.




Surveillance footage shows men circling the dump truck before a struggle broke out near the dumpster. Detectives said Sanchez threw the victim toward the dumpster and began fighting with the older man.




In his account, the 69-year-old told police he used pepper spray to defend himself, but when Sanchez continued advancing, he thought "this guy is trying to kill me" and pulled out a knife and stabbed Sanchez several times in self-defense.




Sanchez ended up running off, where a bartender ended up trying to help the bloodied former NFL quarterback.




Indianapolis police called to the scene called Sanchez "uncooperative." He had a stab wound in his chest and ended up rushed to a hospital for surgery.




The older victim was also seriously injured in the attack. Family shared photographs of the man in the hospital afterward, showing his lacerated face and injuries. The family wishes to remain anonymous due to the attention around the incident, but said the man was cut in the fight and it went through his cheek and hit his tongue.




According to court documents, when asked to rate his pain on a scale of 1 to 10, the victim said it reached a 10.

• 

• 

Detectives later interviewed Sanchez at the hospital, where he was listed in critical condition. When asked what happened, Sanchez reportedly said he only remembered "grabbing for a window" and did not know who attacked him or where the incident took place.




In the wake of the initial reports of Sanchez being involved in the stabbing, Indiana Governor Mike Braun and Lt. Governor Micah Beckwith were quick to tweet out statements casting blame on the "lack of public safety" in Indianapolis.




The pair quickly deleted the tweets after more details came out painting Sanchez as the aggressor who initiated the incident by allegedly harassing and attacking a 69-year-old worker.




Mears responded to the state leadership's quick jump to conclusions by stating, "The governor attempted to exploit senseless violence for political gain without knowing any facts. The truth didn't fit his narrative and he deleted his tweet. Real leadership requires a basic understanding of facts and a desire to do more than just blame others."




Chief Bailey defended the city during a press conference on Monday against critics who claim Indianapolis is unsafe.




Bailey pointed out that violent crime is down 5% downtown, property crime is down 11% and overall crime is down 10%. Violent crime is down 21% across the city as a whole, he added.




"Downtown Indianapolis remains a safe and welcoming environment for the people that live here and the people that visit here," Bailey said.




Bailey also praised his officers for their response and investigation into this highly publicized case.




"The professionalism that we saw from our teams is what makes this department one of the best in the country," Bailey said.




Sanchez, a 38-year-old former New York Jets quarterback, starred at USC from 2005-2008 and was selected fifth overall by the Jets in the 2009 NFL Draft. He was scheduled to broadcast the Colts-Raiders game at Lucas Oil Stadium with FOX Sports on Sunday.




On Monday, Sanchez's lawyers requested to waive his initial hearing and instead set a date for a pretrial conference.




"I continue to urge our community to respect one another, as the prosecutor said, this did not need to happen," Bailey said. "We need to recognize our differences, respect our differences, and deal with our conflict without resorting to violence. Because it's just not worth it."





via: https://fox59.com/news/indycrime/prosecutor-upgrades-charges-against-former-nfl-qb-mark-sanchez-to-level-5-felony/