Indiana
Truck driver sues Sanchez and Fox after violent fight over parking space
A 69-year-old truck driver who was seriously injured in a fight that prosecutors say was started by former NFL quarterback and sports analyst Mark Sanchez is now suing Sanchez and his employer, Fox Corporation, in Indiana state court.
Lawyers for Perry Tole filed the lawsuit Monday seeking an unspecified amount in actual and punitive damages, as well as attorney’s fees. The lawsuit accuses Sanchez of instigating a fight with Tole late Saturday night outside a downtown Indianapolis hotel, leading to “severe permanent disfigurement, loss of function” and other injuries and emotional distress.
Tole also stabbed Sanchez several times in the fight, according to police. A picture of Tole circulating online shows him in a neck brace on a hospital bed, covered in blood with a deep slash to the side of his face.
A media contact for Fox Corporation did not immediately respond to an email Tuesday seeking comment. Attorneys representing Sanchez in his criminal case declined to comment on the lawsuit.
Attorneys representing Tole in the lawsuit, which requested a trial by jury, did not immediately return calls seeking comment.
Sanchez is facing a felony battery charge, along with several misdemeanor charges, for what prosecutors said Monday was a fight over parking.
A police affidavit says the 38-year-old Sanchez, smelling of alcohol, accosted Tole, who had backed his truck into a hotel’s loading docks in downtown Indianapolis. Tole’s lawsuit said Sanchez entered Tole’s truck without permission, then physically blocked and shoved Tole, who then doused Sanchez with pepper spray.
When Sanchez advanced after being sprayed, Tole pulled a knife to defend himself, authorities said.
Sanchez was hospitalized with stab wounds to his upper right torso, according to a police affidavit.
Sanchez was in Indianapolis for Fox’s coverage of Sunday’s game between the Colts and the Las Vegas Raiders.
Sanchez had a 10-year NFL career before retiring in 2019. He spent four seasons with the Jets and also appeared in games with Philadelphia, Dallas and Washington.
He appeared on ABC and ESPN for two years before joining Fox Sports as a game analyst in 2021.
Australia
Prosecutors appeal for longer sentence in mushroom poisoning murders
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Australian prosecutors on Monday filed an appeal seeking a longer guaranteed prison term for Erin Patterson, who was sentenced to life for poisoning four of her estranged husband’s relatives with death cap mushrooms but will be eligible for parole after 33 years.
Victoria state’s Office of Public Prosecutions said in a statement it had filed the appeal to the Victorian Court of Appeal, claiming the sentence handed to Patterson a month ago was “manifestly inadequate.”
Patterson was sentenced to life in prison in September by the Victorian Supreme Court for the murder of three people and the attempted murder a fourth, all of whom were lunch guests at her home in 2023.
Patterson fed them beef Wellington pastry dishes laced with toxic mushrooms. He motive remains a mystery.
Prosecutors argued last month that she should never be eligible for parole. Her lawyers had asked for Patterson to serve 30 years before she could be considered for early release.
Justice Christopher Beale set a non-parole period of 33 years, meaning she could potentially be set free in 2056 at the age of 82.
Patterson’s lawyer Richard Edney told Beale last week that she would lodge an appeal against her jury convictions within a month.
Three Court of Appeal judges will hear both appeals on a date that is yet to be set.
Patterson was convicted in July of murdering Don and Gail Patterson, the parents of her husband Simon Patterson. She also murdered Gail’s sister, Heather Wilkinson, and attempted her murder Ian Wilkinson, who spent weeks in a hospital.
Simon Patterson was also invited to the lunch but declined.
Florida
Lawsuit challenges vote to gift prime Miami real estate for Trump’s presidential library
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — A Miami activist alleges that city officials violated Florida’s open government law when they gifted a sizable plot of prime downtown real estate to the state, which then transferred it to the foundation for Donald Trump’s future presidential library.
The nearly 3-acre (1.2-hectare) property is a developer’s dream and is valued at more than $67 million, according to a 2025 assessment by the Miami-Dade County property appraiser. One of the last undeveloped lots on an iconic stretch of palm tree-lined Biscayne Boulevard, one real estate expert wagered that the parcel could sell for hundreds of millions of dollars more.
Marvin Dunn, an activist and chronicler of local Black history, filed a lawsuit Monday in a Miami-Dade County court against the Board of Trustees for Miami Dade College, a state-run school that previously owned the property. He alleges that the board violated Florida’s Government in the Sunshine law by not providing sufficient notice for its special meeting on Sept. 23, when it voted to give up the land, and he’s seeking to block the land transfer.
Representatives for the college didn’t immediately respond to a Tuesday request seeking comment.
An agenda released ahead of the meeting simply stated the board would consider conveying property to a state fund overseen by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Florida Cabinet, but provided no details on which piece of property was being considered or why. Unlike every other meeting the board has held this year, the 8 a.m. meeting on Sept. 23 was not livestreamed.
“No one not already in on the deal would have had any idea from this ‘notice’ of what the District Board of Trustees was actually planning to do,” the lawsuit states.
At 8:14 a.m., DeSantis’ press office sent out an email announcing he would propose gifting the land for Trump’s presidential library.
A week later, the governor and his Cabinet made it official, effectively putting the property under the control of the Trump family when they deeded the land to the foundation for Trump’s library. The foundation is led by three trustees: Eric Trump, Tiffany Trump’s husband, Michael Boulos, and the president’s attorney James Kiley.
Flanked by glitzy condos, the property overlooks a waterfront park and is across the street from the Miami Heat’s arena. Miami Dade College had used it as an employee parking lot, though two decades ago the property was eyed for a major expansion of the college’s downtown campus, according to a 2006 report by Miami News.
DeSantis has touted the potential benefits the college could see from the presidential library development, though the land deal doesn’t guarantee any commitments to the school, which is one of the nation’s largest institutions of higher education. The deal only specifies that the parcel must contain “components” of a presidential library or center, with construction starting within five years.
Utah
Defendant’s DNA was found on gas can in failed arson of vehicle, prosecutors say
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — A man’s DNA was found on a gasoline can that was placed under a Fox News vehicle in a failed arson attempt in Salt Lake City, federal prosecutors allege in court documents.
Christopher Solomon Proctor, 45, lit a fuse attached to the 2.5 gallon (9.5 liter) plastic gas container that he had put under the SUV parked outside of a building on Sept. 12, according to the filing. The fuse went out before the gas ignited.
Proctor has pleaded not guilty to charges of attempted arson and possession of an unregistered destructive device. The Associated Press left emails this week for his attorney, Richard Sorenson, seeking comment.
During a hearing Monday, U.S. Magistrate Judge Dustin Pead ordered Proctor, who was arrested Sept. 29, to remain in jail until his trial. Pead said there was evidence that Proctor had planned to repeat the attempt, despite family and friends insisting that Proctor posed no danger to others, according to court documents.
A license plate reader recorded Proctor’s vehicle near the scene within minutes of the crime, and investigators found items in Proctor’s home similar to those used to carry out the attempted arson, including black boots, a different gas can that also had a hole carved in the top, and a portion of fuse, Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Thorpe wrote.
According to prosecutors, Proctor bought more fuse days after the failed attempt and returned to the crime scene a week later. Proctor “had mentioned burning Fox News on previous occasions” to others, and told an acquaintance that he lit a fuse under a “fox news” vehicle but it did not blow up, Thorpe wrote.
“That purchase, the presence of another gas-can at his residence and the deliberate resurveilling of the news station lead to an inference that the defendant may not have been satisfied with his failed attempt,” Thorpe wrote.
The day after the alleged arson attempt, two men were arrested on suspicion of placing a makeshift bomb under the news vehicle. Investigators searched their home, and they were charged in state court with crimes including possessing hoax explosives. However, the men are not being prosecuted for crimes related to the device found under the Fox News vehicle.
Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill said Tuesday that the charges were based on the information presented to the office and referred questions regarding the news vehicle to federal authorities.
The federal court documents make no mention of the two men.
The incident happened two days after conservative activist Charlie Kirk was killed during an event at Utah Valley University in Orem, about 35 miles (55 kilometers) south of Salt Lake City. Thorpe said at Monday’s hearing that there is no evidence linking the alleged arson attempt to Kirk’s death, FOX 13 reported.
California
Former LA mayor’s senior staffer sentenced to probation for fake bomb threat at City Hall
LOS ANGELES (AP) — A former member of Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass’ senior staff was sentenced Monday to a year of probation for calling in a fake bomb threat to City Hall while attending a virtual meeting in 2024.
During his sentencing hearing in U.S. District Court, Brian K. Williams admitted that he falsely told police in October 2024 that he had received a call on his city-issued cellphone from an unknown man who said he had placed a bomb in City Hall, the Los Angeles Times reported. Williams was a longtime law enforcement oversight official who served as Bass’ deputy mayor of public safety.
“The male caller stated that ‘he was tired of the city support of Israel, and he has decided to place a bomb in City Hall. It might be in the rotunda’,” Williams wrote in the text, according to prosecutors. He said he contacted the Los Angeles Police Department, which sent officers to search the building.
Williams’ lawyer Dmitry Gorin cited “undiagnosed mental health challenges,” for which he said his client has undergone treatment, the newspaper said.
Prosecutors said in a presentencing memo that Williams reported the threat, “after he became overwhelmed with stress and anxiety and desperate to get out of an ongoing meeting.”
Williams agreed in May to plead guilty to a single count of threats regarding fire and explosives.
Prosecutors noted that Williams has no prior criminal arrests or convictions.
Truck driver sues Sanchez and Fox after violent fight over parking space
A 69-year-old truck driver who was seriously injured in a fight that prosecutors say was started by former NFL quarterback and sports analyst Mark Sanchez is now suing Sanchez and his employer, Fox Corporation, in Indiana state court.
Lawyers for Perry Tole filed the lawsuit Monday seeking an unspecified amount in actual and punitive damages, as well as attorney’s fees. The lawsuit accuses Sanchez of instigating a fight with Tole late Saturday night outside a downtown Indianapolis hotel, leading to “severe permanent disfigurement, loss of function” and other injuries and emotional distress.
Tole also stabbed Sanchez several times in the fight, according to police. A picture of Tole circulating online shows him in a neck brace on a hospital bed, covered in blood with a deep slash to the side of his face.
A media contact for Fox Corporation did not immediately respond to an email Tuesday seeking comment. Attorneys representing Sanchez in his criminal case declined to comment on the lawsuit.
Attorneys representing Tole in the lawsuit, which requested a trial by jury, did not immediately return calls seeking comment.
Sanchez is facing a felony battery charge, along with several misdemeanor charges, for what prosecutors said Monday was a fight over parking.
A police affidavit says the 38-year-old Sanchez, smelling of alcohol, accosted Tole, who had backed his truck into a hotel’s loading docks in downtown Indianapolis. Tole’s lawsuit said Sanchez entered Tole’s truck without permission, then physically blocked and shoved Tole, who then doused Sanchez with pepper spray.
When Sanchez advanced after being sprayed, Tole pulled a knife to defend himself, authorities said.
Sanchez was hospitalized with stab wounds to his upper right torso, according to a police affidavit.
Sanchez was in Indianapolis for Fox’s coverage of Sunday’s game between the Colts and the Las Vegas Raiders.
Sanchez had a 10-year NFL career before retiring in 2019. He spent four seasons with the Jets and also appeared in games with Philadelphia, Dallas and Washington.
He appeared on ABC and ESPN for two years before joining Fox Sports as a game analyst in 2021.
Australia
Prosecutors appeal for longer sentence in mushroom poisoning murders
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Australian prosecutors on Monday filed an appeal seeking a longer guaranteed prison term for Erin Patterson, who was sentenced to life for poisoning four of her estranged husband’s relatives with death cap mushrooms but will be eligible for parole after 33 years.
Victoria state’s Office of Public Prosecutions said in a statement it had filed the appeal to the Victorian Court of Appeal, claiming the sentence handed to Patterson a month ago was “manifestly inadequate.”
Patterson was sentenced to life in prison in September by the Victorian Supreme Court for the murder of three people and the attempted murder a fourth, all of whom were lunch guests at her home in 2023.
Patterson fed them beef Wellington pastry dishes laced with toxic mushrooms. He motive remains a mystery.
Prosecutors argued last month that she should never be eligible for parole. Her lawyers had asked for Patterson to serve 30 years before she could be considered for early release.
Justice Christopher Beale set a non-parole period of 33 years, meaning she could potentially be set free in 2056 at the age of 82.
Patterson’s lawyer Richard Edney told Beale last week that she would lodge an appeal against her jury convictions within a month.
Three Court of Appeal judges will hear both appeals on a date that is yet to be set.
Patterson was convicted in July of murdering Don and Gail Patterson, the parents of her husband Simon Patterson. She also murdered Gail’s sister, Heather Wilkinson, and attempted her murder Ian Wilkinson, who spent weeks in a hospital.
Simon Patterson was also invited to the lunch but declined.
Florida
Lawsuit challenges vote to gift prime Miami real estate for Trump’s presidential library
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — A Miami activist alleges that city officials violated Florida’s open government law when they gifted a sizable plot of prime downtown real estate to the state, which then transferred it to the foundation for Donald Trump’s future presidential library.
The nearly 3-acre (1.2-hectare) property is a developer’s dream and is valued at more than $67 million, according to a 2025 assessment by the Miami-Dade County property appraiser. One of the last undeveloped lots on an iconic stretch of palm tree-lined Biscayne Boulevard, one real estate expert wagered that the parcel could sell for hundreds of millions of dollars more.
Marvin Dunn, an activist and chronicler of local Black history, filed a lawsuit Monday in a Miami-Dade County court against the Board of Trustees for Miami Dade College, a state-run school that previously owned the property. He alleges that the board violated Florida’s Government in the Sunshine law by not providing sufficient notice for its special meeting on Sept. 23, when it voted to give up the land, and he’s seeking to block the land transfer.
Representatives for the college didn’t immediately respond to a Tuesday request seeking comment.
An agenda released ahead of the meeting simply stated the board would consider conveying property to a state fund overseen by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Florida Cabinet, but provided no details on which piece of property was being considered or why. Unlike every other meeting the board has held this year, the 8 a.m. meeting on Sept. 23 was not livestreamed.
“No one not already in on the deal would have had any idea from this ‘notice’ of what the District Board of Trustees was actually planning to do,” the lawsuit states.
At 8:14 a.m., DeSantis’ press office sent out an email announcing he would propose gifting the land for Trump’s presidential library.
A week later, the governor and his Cabinet made it official, effectively putting the property under the control of the Trump family when they deeded the land to the foundation for Trump’s library. The foundation is led by three trustees: Eric Trump, Tiffany Trump’s husband, Michael Boulos, and the president’s attorney James Kiley.
Flanked by glitzy condos, the property overlooks a waterfront park and is across the street from the Miami Heat’s arena. Miami Dade College had used it as an employee parking lot, though two decades ago the property was eyed for a major expansion of the college’s downtown campus, according to a 2006 report by Miami News.
DeSantis has touted the potential benefits the college could see from the presidential library development, though the land deal doesn’t guarantee any commitments to the school, which is one of the nation’s largest institutions of higher education. The deal only specifies that the parcel must contain “components” of a presidential library or center, with construction starting within five years.
Utah
Defendant’s DNA was found on gas can in failed arson of vehicle, prosecutors say
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — A man’s DNA was found on a gasoline can that was placed under a Fox News vehicle in a failed arson attempt in Salt Lake City, federal prosecutors allege in court documents.
Christopher Solomon Proctor, 45, lit a fuse attached to the 2.5 gallon (9.5 liter) plastic gas container that he had put under the SUV parked outside of a building on Sept. 12, according to the filing. The fuse went out before the gas ignited.
Proctor has pleaded not guilty to charges of attempted arson and possession of an unregistered destructive device. The Associated Press left emails this week for his attorney, Richard Sorenson, seeking comment.
During a hearing Monday, U.S. Magistrate Judge Dustin Pead ordered Proctor, who was arrested Sept. 29, to remain in jail until his trial. Pead said there was evidence that Proctor had planned to repeat the attempt, despite family and friends insisting that Proctor posed no danger to others, according to court documents.
A license plate reader recorded Proctor’s vehicle near the scene within minutes of the crime, and investigators found items in Proctor’s home similar to those used to carry out the attempted arson, including black boots, a different gas can that also had a hole carved in the top, and a portion of fuse, Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Thorpe wrote.
According to prosecutors, Proctor bought more fuse days after the failed attempt and returned to the crime scene a week later. Proctor “had mentioned burning Fox News on previous occasions” to others, and told an acquaintance that he lit a fuse under a “fox news” vehicle but it did not blow up, Thorpe wrote.
“That purchase, the presence of another gas-can at his residence and the deliberate resurveilling of the news station lead to an inference that the defendant may not have been satisfied with his failed attempt,” Thorpe wrote.
The day after the alleged arson attempt, two men were arrested on suspicion of placing a makeshift bomb under the news vehicle. Investigators searched their home, and they were charged in state court with crimes including possessing hoax explosives. However, the men are not being prosecuted for crimes related to the device found under the Fox News vehicle.
Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill said Tuesday that the charges were based on the information presented to the office and referred questions regarding the news vehicle to federal authorities.
The federal court documents make no mention of the two men.
The incident happened two days after conservative activist Charlie Kirk was killed during an event at Utah Valley University in Orem, about 35 miles (55 kilometers) south of Salt Lake City. Thorpe said at Monday’s hearing that there is no evidence linking the alleged arson attempt to Kirk’s death, FOX 13 reported.
California
Former LA mayor’s senior staffer sentenced to probation for fake bomb threat at City Hall
LOS ANGELES (AP) — A former member of Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass’ senior staff was sentenced Monday to a year of probation for calling in a fake bomb threat to City Hall while attending a virtual meeting in 2024.
During his sentencing hearing in U.S. District Court, Brian K. Williams admitted that he falsely told police in October 2024 that he had received a call on his city-issued cellphone from an unknown man who said he had placed a bomb in City Hall, the Los Angeles Times reported. Williams was a longtime law enforcement oversight official who served as Bass’ deputy mayor of public safety.
“The male caller stated that ‘he was tired of the city support of Israel, and he has decided to place a bomb in City Hall. It might be in the rotunda’,” Williams wrote in the text, according to prosecutors. He said he contacted the Los Angeles Police Department, which sent officers to search the building.
Williams’ lawyer Dmitry Gorin cited “undiagnosed mental health challenges,” for which he said his client has undergone treatment, the newspaper said.
Prosecutors said in a presentencing memo that Williams reported the threat, “after he became overwhelmed with stress and anxiety and desperate to get out of an ongoing meeting.”
Williams agreed in May to plead guilty to a single count of threats regarding fire and explosives.
Prosecutors noted that Williams has no prior criminal arrests or convictions.
