marion county

The 69-year-old truck driver who got into a physical altercation with former USC quarterback Mark Sanchez over the weekend is out of the hospital and continuing his recovery at home, according to his attorneys.

Indiana resident Perry Tole suffered a laceration on his left cheek during an incident that occurred late Friday night and into early Saturday in an alley outside a downtown Indianapolis hotel.

“He’s been released from the hospital, recovering and hopeful that he’ll have regained function to — you know, his ability to speak,” Eric J. May, one of the attorneys representing Tole in a civil lawsuit against Sanchez, told TMZ on Monday.

“Right now he’s having a real difficult time communicating because of the large gash on his face. It affected his jaw, tongue and mouth.”

May added that Tole “can speak right now, but it’s just so slurred and so labored for him, just because of all the trauma to his mouth and cheek.”

Attorney Edward R. Reichert told TMZ that Tole won’t be able to attend his son’s wedding this weekend as a result of what he went through. May said he expects “further medical treatment and an ongoing treatment for him well into the future” and added that “psychological injuries” also are a concern.

“I think it’s too early to tell what his long term prognosis is going to be, but we’re hopeful,” May said. “He’s out right now, he’s back with his wife, and I think they’re just glad to be alive.”

Sanchez was pepper-sprayed in the face and stabbed multiple times by Tole during the scuffle, according to a probable-cause affidavit filed Saturday by the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department.

As of Monday morning, Sanchez remained in the hospital and was listed in stable condition. His brother released a statement later in the day on behalf of the Sanchez family.

“This has been a deeply distressing time for everyone involved,” Nick Sanchez said. “Mark and our family are incredibly grateful for the concern, love, and support we’ve received over the past few days. Mark remains under medical care for the serious injuries he sustained and is focused on his recovery as the legal process continues.”

Sanchez is being charged with a level five felony of battery involving serious bodily injury and three misdemeanors — battery resulting in injury, unauthorized entry of a motor vehicle and public intoxication.

Marion County, Ind., prosecutor Ryan Mears said Monday that more charges are possible as the investigation continues.

Sanchez was in Indianapolis to call Sunday’s Raiders-Colts game for Fox Sports. Fellow Fox analyst Brady Quinn filled in for Sanchez on the broadcast.

According to the affidavit, which was based on hotel surveillance footage and a statement Tole gave to the police, Sanchez apparently objected to Toles backing his box truck onto the hotel’s loading dock while performing his job with a company that recycles and disposes of commercial cooking oil.

Sanchez smelled of alcohol at the time of the confrontation, the affidavit said.

Tole’s civil lawsuit, filed Monday in Marion County Superior Court, alleges that he suffered “severe permanent disfigurement, loss of function, other physical injuries, emotional distress, and other damages” as a result of Sanchez’s actions.

Sanchez’s employer, Fox Corp., is named as a co-defendent in the suit, in which Tole seeks compensatory and punitive damages to be determined at trial.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

A 55-year-old man was sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison after pleading guilty to stalking and harassing Indiana Fever superstar Caitlin Clark.

Michael Lewis of Denton, Texas, reached a deal with Marion County, Ind., prosecutors before pleading guilty Monday to one felony count of stalking and one misdemeanor count of harassment.

Lewis will receive credit for the 197 days he has already served behind bars since his January arrest. He allegedly sent the then-22-year-old Clark hundreds of “threats and sexually explicit messages” via social media between Dec. 12 and Jan. 11.

Days before his arrest, Lewis told police who were making a welfare check to his Indianapolis hotel room that he was in “an imaginary relationship.” He continued to message the WNBA star after the police visit.

“This resolution ensures that the defendant is held accountable for his threatening actions, the fear he instilled, and the disruption he caused,” Marion County prosecutor Ryan Mears said Monday in a statement. “… The victim will be able to have peace of mind while focusing on what matters to her.”

As part of the ruling, Lewis was ordered to have no contact with Clark and to stay away from Gainbridge and Hinkle venues in Indiana, as well as all events associated with the Fever or Indiana Pacers. He is also not allowed to have internet access while serving his sentence.

Judge Angela Dow Davis also recommended that Lewis seek mental health treatment. According to WTHR-TV in Indianapolis, Davis frequently had to stop and correct the behavior of Lewis, who at one point prophesied the end of the world.

It was similar behavior to when he first appeared in court after his arrest earlier this year. Davis repeatedly told him to “stop talking” because he kept interrupting the proceedings.

U.S. gymnastics legend Mary Lou Retton faces a DUI charge after being arrested earlier this month in Marion County, W.Va.

According to Magistrate Court of Marion County records, Retton was arrested May 17 and charged with a misdemeanor count of driving under influence of alcohol, controlled substances, or drugs. She was released after posting a personal recognizance bond of $1,500, the court records show.

Retton’s attorney declined to comment on the matter when reached by The Times.

Born in Fairmont, W.Va., Retton, 57, rose to household-name status during the 1984 Summer Games in Los Angeles, when she became the first U.S. gymnast to win Olympic gold in the all-around competition, edging Romania’s Simona Pauca by five-tenths of a point.

Retton sealed the gold medal by earning perfect scores on her final two exercises, floor and vault, much to the delight of the crowd at Pauley Pavilion and millions of TV viewers around the country. During those Games, she won five medals, also including silvers for team all-around and vault, and bronzes for floor and uneven bars.

On Oct. 10, 2023, Retton’s daughter, McKenna Kelley, revealed that her mother had “a very rare form of pneumonia” and was “fighting for her life” in intensive care without being covered by medical insurance.

“She is not able to breathe on her own,” Kelley wrote in the description of a fundraiser that has raised nearly $500,000 to help cover Retton’s medical costs.

On Oct. 23, 2023, Kelley wrote in a now-deleted Instagram post that Retton was “HOME & in recovery mode.”

Retton said she was “not great yet” when she spoke about her ordeal and ongoing recovery with NBC News’ Hoda Kotb in January 2024.

“I don’t know how long I’ll indefinitely need the oxygen,” Retton said while gesturing toward her nasal tube, “but you have no idea how blessed and how grateful I was for this holiday season.”

Retton also addressed why she didn’t have health insurance at the time of her medical emergency.

“When COVID hit after my divorce, and all my preexisting — I mean, I’ve had over 30 operations, orthopedic stuff — I couldn’t afford it,” she said.