A Florida woman who fought off an attacker at an apartment complex gym is being called an inspiration by the Hillsborough County sheriff.
The entire incident was captured on a surveillance camera. You can watch the footage in the video player at the top of this article.
Nashali Alma, 24, of Tampa, told investigators that she was exercising on Jan. 22 when a man knocked on the gym door.
Alma let him in because she’d seen him there before.
“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,” Alma told WFTS.
After Alma went back to her workout, the video shows the man approaching her and trying to grab her.
Alma said she was taught by her parents to never give up, so she continued to fight against the man as he tried to get her pinned to the ground.
“After we were on the ground wrestling for a little bit I went ahead and pulled his beard hair. I started twisting, twisted, twisted. I could see from his face that it hurt really bad,” Alma said.
Alma tried to call 911 on her phone but wasn’t able to, so she decided she just had to “fight this out.”
Alma said when her attacker finally got tired, she was able to break free and run out of the gym.
“I was overwhelmed with emotion,” Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister said. “I’m grateful that she came forward. I know that her story is going to be an inspiration to other women.”
“My advice would be to never give up,” Alma said.
The suspect was arrested the next day after knocking on another woman’s apartment door and getting inside. He was chased off by that woman’s fiancé.