A woman who fought off an attacker in her gym has talked about how scary it was.
Nashali Alma was working out in the gym at her Florida apartment complex when she let a man in who she thought was also there to work out.
But not long after they let the 24-year-old in, he was attacked.
The man can be seen coming up to Alma and being pushed away by her on the security footage. She then tried to get away from the attacker while calling the police, but the man caught her and pinned her to the ground.
Alma didn’t stop fighting back, though, and she was able to get away and call the police in the end.
When she thought back on the terrible situation, she said:
I was there alone, working out. I was in the middle of my set and I hear a knock on the door, and some people do forget their key fobs, and so I just let him in and I didn’t really pay too much attention. I just went back to finish up my workout.
For the first half of the encounter he didn’t say a single word to me, it was just me talking like, ‘What are you doing bro? Get the f- away from me.’
He wasn’t exchanging any words until we reached the other side of the gym where I was trying to call 911 and he said, ‘Don’t do that. Don’t call nobody.’
That’s when he grabbed me and we started going at it.
When asked how she finally stopped the attacker, she said:
As you can see in the video, when he grabbed me I started off with punching him in his head with my phone, then I started jabbing him with my left hand.
Then we ended up on the floor for a little bit, and off the camera – you don’t see it obviously – he was trying to put me in a chokehold and I somehow slipped out of it, I elbowed him in the face and I grabbed all of his beard hairs.
I started twisting it and twisting it, and that’s when you see me standing up, and I just tell him, ‘Get off,’ and he kind of just let go, and I just ran out.
Xavier Thomas-Jones, who is 25 years old, was then taken into custody. He is being charged with sexual battery, false imprisonment, and kidnapping.
Sheriff Chad Chronister said he was “grateful” that Alma came forward.
I was disgusted by the suspect’s actions, how he preyed on this young woman. This woman’s strength, courage, and determination are inspiring,
he said.
I know her story is going to be an inspiration to other women.
Alma said that she has kept going to the gym and that she has been showered with love since the attack.
I’m actually feeling really good,
she said.
The last two days I’ve woken up to a lot of people just being so supportive, showing a lot of love – it feels great.
