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Google PlayA Florida woman went viral this week after she courageously fought off an attacker at her apartment complex.
According to TMZ, the terrifying incident took place last month in Tampa, while 24-year-old Nashali Alma was working out in the complex’s gym. Surveillance cameras showed the nursing school student lifting weights when she heard a knock coming from the outside. Alma, who was alone at the time, was seen walking to the front door and opening it for a man standing outside. She told TMZ she felt comfortable letting him in, as she assumed he was another tenant who simply forgot his key fob.
Alma said she didn’t really pay attention to the stranger until he approached her. The woman recalled telling the man to leave her alone, before he started to chase her. She told TMZ he didn’t say anything to her as she repeatedly demanded that he stop. She eventually made her way to the other side of the gym and began calling 911. It was at that moment that the man grabbed her.
The cameras showed the man trying to get Alma on the ground. The woman repeatedly hit the attacker in the head before he eventually backed off.
“When we were off camera, he was trying to put me in a chokehold and I somehow slipped out of it,” she said. “I elbowed him in the face and grabbed all of his beard hair, and started twisting 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. It was just me constantly fighting.”
The man, identified as Xavier Thomas-Jones, was arrested a day after the Jan. 22 attack and charged with sexual battery and kidnapping. Alma said she experienced a “little PTSD” but hasn’t let the incident interfere with her everyday life.
“I’ve just been more cautious. I’ve been going back to the gym about every day. It actually hasn’t stopped me one bit,” she continued. “These types situations shouldn’t stop you from doing what you love, and doing what you’ve been doing.”
