Indianapolis authorities 'very interested' in Mark Sanchez's drug test results after ex-NFL star's 'erratic' behavior before bloody alley brawl

Indianapolis prosecutors are awaiting the result of a drug test on Mark Sanchez after the former NFL quarterback was hit with felony charges in relation to the violent altercation between him and a grease truck driver. 

Sanchez, 38, is facing a possible six years in prison after being charged with a Level 5 felony battery of causing serious injury for allegedly instigating a shocking brawl that left him in critical condition and a 69-year-old man with horrific injuries in Indianapolis in the early hours of Saturday morning. 

Now, Marion County prosecutor Ryan Mears has revealed that a drug test was conducted on the Fox NFL analyst with authorities eagerly awaiting the results. 

'We're very interested in what the toxicology reports are going to reveal,' Ryan Mears said one NBC News' Top Story with Tom Llamas in a Monday night interview.

'We're going to work with investigators to gather as much information as possible so we can have a complete picture of what took place,' he added.

Based on hotel security footage and testimony from truck driver Perry Tole, Sanchez is accused of drunkenly accosting the driver, who was attempting to back his truck into a hotel's loading dock. 

Tole told police that Sanchez smelled of alcohol and slurred his speech. Meanwhile, other reports suggest that Sanchez was displaying 'erratic' behavior before the altercation in the alley occurred. 

Fox59 reported - via a source - that Sanchez, 39, was doing 'wind sprints' in the alleyway shortly before the violent altercation occurred.

Wind sprints are a form of high-intensity interval training that involve short bursts of maximum effort sprinting, followed by a period of rest - something that Sanchez will have likely been familiar with during his career as a top-level professional athlete.

'The good thing about this case is that there is surveillance footage all up and down that alley so we do have a pretty clear picture of what took place,' Mears told Llamas. 'Certainly you do see Mr. Sanchez running at times before he makes contact with the victim in this case.' 

He continued: 'Not sure why he was running that late at night and certainly not sure why there was a dispute over the parking spot when again, this individual was just trying to do his job.' 

Mears also described Tole as having 'sustained very significant injuries,' during the 'completely unnecessary' altercation.  

'This individual is dealing with not only significant pain but also very likely facing the potential of having to dealing with permanent scaring on their body … he's in good spirits, he's progressing but progressing very slowly.' 

Tole told police that Sanchez pursued him, entered his truck and threatened him. That caused the driver to pepper spray the ex-NFL star, according to the affidavit. 

Sanchez was allegedly undeterred, however, and continued to strike the man, who fell back into a dumpster and on to pallets.

Tole then pulled out a knife and stabbed Sanchez several times in his chest because, as he told police, he believed 'this guy is trying to kill me.' Sanchez fled after being stabbed, according to the affidavit.

He is said to have then pounded on the window of an Indianapolis pub around the corner and, rather confusingly, claimed to have been a shooting victim.

'As I was closing, somebody was beating on the window, just a random person,' Loughmiller's Pub & Eatery bartender Scott Bennett told Fox59.com. 'I looked and saw that the person needed help and went outside and the person had blood on him, and he said that he'd been shot.

'Brought him inside and laid him down, and we called 911 and put towels over the injuries that he had.'

Horrifying photos were released on Sunday revealing the extent of Tole's gruesome injuries. He could be seen lying in a hospital bed, covered in blood with a huge gash on his face and a brace around his neck.

Sanchez was detained - while still in the hospital - on allegations of battery with injury, unlawful entry of a motor vehicle and public intoxication.

But prosecutors have since upgraded the charges to a Level 5 felony battery of causing serious injury, which could see Sanchez face up to six years in prison if he is found not guilty. 

Meanwhile, the alleged victim - identified as Perry Tole - filed a lawsuit against Sanchez and his employer Fox, suing for compensatory and punitive damages, on Monday.

Tole claims in his filing that he has suffered severe permanent disfigurement, loss of function, other physical injuries, emotional distress and other damages as a result of the altercation.

He also states that Sanchez appeared intoxicated and instigated the altercation on the night of the alleged attack.

The driver alleges that Fox 'knew or should have known' about Sanchez's 'unfitness as an employee, propensity for drinking and/or harmful conduct.'