A Florida woman has spoken out over a harrowing assault in which she was forced to fight off an attacker in her apartment complex gym.
The shocking incident was caught on camera.
The attacker, Xavier Thomas-Jones, has been arrested.
24-year-old Nashali Alma says the man suddenly launched into a violent assault in the gym.
“As soon as he was approaching me, I pushed him,” she recalled.
“I said, ‘Bro, what the F are you doing? Get away from me. Stop trying to touch me.’
“He grabbed me and I’m like ‘heck no, it’s game time.’
“I took my phone and I smashed his head and punched him.
“I knew I had the strength, I knew I could fight and I wasn’t going to let this man win at all.
“He started chasing me around the bench, and we ended up on the other side of the gym.
“My advice would be to never give up,” she said.
“Usually, people forget their key tags and fobs.
“We do let them in and so I let the gentleman in.
“I didn’t think twice about letting him in.
“I was in the middle of my workout.
“After we were on the ground wrestling for a little bit I went ahead and pulled his beard hair,” she revealed.
“I started twisting, twisted, twisted. I could see from his face that it hurt really bad.
“The moment I tried to call 911, he would try to grab my arm or he was grabbing me at this moment.
“I can’t call 911 so I got to fight this out for the moment.
“That was my thought the entire time because the more fight you put in, I do believe, they would get more tired because they see like dang, this girl is fighting.
“You know, you can see at the end of the video he was tired.
“My parents always told me in life, to never give up on anything and that’s one thing I always kept in my mind when I was fighting him.
“It’s better to reach out to law enforcement sooner than later.
“The sooner they have the information, the sooner they can catch that person.”
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Thankfully, Alma was eventually able to free herself from Thomas-Jones’s grip and run for help.
“I was disgusted by the suspect’s actions, how he preyed on this young woman,” Sheriff Chad Chronister said.
“I’m grateful that she came forward, I know her story is going to be an inspiration to other women.”
Xavier Thomas-Jones was charged with sexual battery, false imprisonment, and kidnapping.
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