Mark Sanchez
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Mark Sanchez
Retired New York Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez, the fifth overall pick in the 2009 NFL Draft who later became a Fox Sports commentator, was hospitalized after reportedly suffering stab wounds early Saturday morning in Indianapolis. Then, in a bizarre twist, the 38-year-old married father of three was arrested as he lay in a hospital bed, charged with “suspicion of battery with injury, unlawful entry of a motor vehicle and public intoxication.”
While a full picture of the confusing incident has yet to emerge, new details were filled in late Saturday when an audio recording of a police dispatcher communicating with officers arriving at the scene of the apparent stabbing was leaked to the celebrity news and gossip site TMZ.
The incident reportedly took place outside an establishment known as Loughmiller’s Pub & Eatery at 301 West Washington Street in Indianapolis. In the audio recording, police order a bar to be “locked down.”
‘Good’ Security Cameras Located, Video Not Released
The officers are heard receiving instructions to locate any nearby security cameras that could have recorded all or part of what was reported by WXIN Fox 59 in Indianapolis as a violent altercation between Sanchez and a food delivery driver.
“One man on the call tells the group they need to lock down the bar where the incident occurred … with orders to treat it like a crime scene — no one in or out,” TMZ reported. “They then say there are good cameras in the alleyway near where the incident happened.”
If those “good cameras” did, in fact, reveal video of the incident or any events before or after it, those details have not been made public.
Report: Sanchez ‘Not Cooperative’ With Police Officers
“According to the police narrative we received from sources Sanchez was not cooperative with police when they first arrived on scene,” WXIN news anchor Angela Ganote wrote on her social media account. “Another man listed as the victim in the police report told police he was delivering food when Sanchez told him he needed to move and couldn’t park where he was. That man told police Sanchez started threatening and following him and then attacked him.”
According to the report provided by Ganote, based on the police account, the delivery driver, whose name has not been released, attempted to fight off Sanchez using pepper spray. But the former USC standout quarterback was not deterred.
“It was at that that time [the delivery driver] defended himself with a knife,” Ganote reported, adding that according to the police account, the individual suffered “a significant injury to his face.”
Sanchez Replaced on Fox Broadcast by Brady Quinn
In the police audio, according to the TMZ account of its contents, “someone says they believe two people have been stabbed, which lines up with what the police ultimately said — because they revealed Saturday one person involved suffered stab wounds while the other was dealt lacerations.”
The site’s report described the police response to the near-deadly encounter as “large.”
Indianapolis police chief Chris Bailey later commended the “professionalism” of officers at the scene.
On the recording, officers say that the stabbing victim — that is, Sanchez — appeared to be in critical condition, but he was later listed as “stable” in a nearby hospital.
Sanchez was in the city to serve on Fox’s broadcast team for Sunday’s game between the Indianapolis Colts and the visiting Las Vegas Raiders. Michael McCarthy of Front Office Sports reported that Sanchez will now be replaced on the broadcast by ex-NFL quarterback Brady Quinn, formerly of Notre Dame, the Cleveland Browns and Kansas City Chiefs.