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Former Dallas Cowboys quarterback Mark Sanchez has reached a preliminary agreement to settle a civil lawsuit stemming from a violent fight he had with a 69-year-old truck driver in Indianapolis last year, according to court documents.
The deal comes weeks after Sanchez agreed to plead guilty to charges arising from the altercation with Perry Tole in October 2025, when the former NFL player was accused of assaulting the worker.
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Tole claimed in the lawsuit that he suffered injuries that left him “permanently disfigured” after the confrontation with Sanchez, who was working as a Fox Sports analyst at the time.
According to documents filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana, Sanchez, Tole, and Fox Corporation — the company that employed the former quarterback when the incident occurred — reached an agreement in principle on October 3.
The financial terms of the settlement were not disclosed, but Tole’s attorneys plan to request dismissal of the case once the agreement is finalized and signed.
The fight that put Mark Sanchez in legal trouble
The civil lawsuit originated from an incident on October 10, 2025, when Tole parked his truck in an Indianapolis alley to collect used cooking oil from a hotel.
According to the complaint, Sanchez allegedly knocked the driver to the ground and struck him during the confrontation. Tole responded by stabbing the former player multiple times.
Video footage of the incident showed Sanchez bloodied as he left the alley and walked toward a nearby bar. Police noted that the former quarterback showed signs of intoxication.
Later images showed Tole hospitalized with a neck brace and deep wounds to his face and jaw.
Mark Sanchez faces multiple charges
Sanchez, who starred as a quarterback at USC before becoming a prominent figure with the Jets, was charged with several offenses, including battery resulting in serious bodily injury, battery resulting in bodily injury, unauthorized entry of a motor vehicle, and public intoxication.
The former player had a trial scheduled for September, but his attorneys and Indiana prosecutors requested a postponement to set a hearing for a guilty plea and sentencing.
It has not yet been confirmed which charges Sanchez will plead to.
His legal team previously stated that discussions related to the civil case were progressing positively and that there was “real momentum” to close this chapter.
Meanwhile, Tole’s attorneys also noted that the negotiations were productive and that both sides are moving toward a final resolution.