In a terrifying video, a 24-year-old woman in Tampa, Florida bravely fought off a man who attacked her during a workout at her apartment complex's gym. Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office released the video of the shocking attack on social media on Wednesday, in which the victim, Nashali Alma, also narrated the ordeal about what actually happened. As per Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office, Nashali Alma hoped to open up about her experience in order 'to encourage other women who've dealt with similar incidents to speak out.' As per reports, the Florida woman was attacked on January 22. Alma noticed a man waiting at the gym's door and buzzed him in. "My thought process was, it's just another dude coming to work out," she explained in the video shared by the authorities adding, "I didn't think anything out of that." As she continued to work out, he approached her and, per cops, "attempted to grab her waist."
In the video, it can be seen Alma opened the door and let the man inside the gym. When Alma was working out, it can seen the man approached her and tried to grab her. She pushed the attacker back and tried to maintain her distance. However, the attacker kept on chasing her inside the empty gym. According to Fox Tampa, the suspect lives in the same building where the attack happened and allegedly admitted he tried restraining Alma because he wanted to have sex with her. He also made a pass at another female resident of the complex the same day he was arrested.
"As soon as he was approaching me, I pushed him. I said, 'Bro, what the F are you doing? Get away from me. Stop trying to touch me,'" recalled Alma. "He started chasing me around the bench, and we ended up on the other side of the gym." After he pinned her to the floor, she continued fighting him off while attempting to call police. He eventually released his grip on her and she ran to a nearby apartment. 25-year-old suspect Xavier Thomas-Jones was arrested less than 24 hours later and faces charges of sexual battery, false imprisonment, and kidnapping.
Who is Nashali Alma and what she said after the attack?
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Nashali Alma is fitness trainer and an online gym coach. Apart from this, Nashali Alma is also a social media influencer who enjoys a great following on Instagram. Going by her insta profile, Nashali Alma is also a Medical Lab Technician and she is 24-years-old. She has done B.S. Biomedical Sciences & Physics. Alma has a following of 16.1K followers on her Instagram profile. Alma was quoted by a US media outlet saying, "I am a bodybuilder, and I'm actually pretty strong, so in my mind, he was kinda equal to me."
"My advice would be to never give up. My parents always told me in life to never give up on anything and that's one thing I kept in my mind when I was fighting him," said Alma. "As long as you fight back and show him that you're strong and you're not giving up, I believe it's possible to escape."