‘Extremely alarming’: Woman violently attacked by stranger on beach
By Ari Hait
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STUART, Florida (WPBF) — A Martin County woman is recovering after becoming the victim of what the sheriff called a random and unprovoked attack.
Martin County Sheriff John Budensiek said the woman was walking on Tiger Shores Beach in Martin County, Florida, around 11 p.m. Thursday.
Her husband called 911 and told the dispatcher his wife had been talking on the phone with her sister when she started screaming.
“Her sister said it sounded like she was fighting with someone. And then the phone went dead,” the husband said. “They’ve been calling her for the past five minutes. She’s not responding.”
The husband said he was racing to her last known location at Stuart Beach.
Budensiek said deputies found the woman on the beach “wet with bruising on the side of her neck, bruising on the side of her face, and they started trying to piece together what had taken place.”
Investigators said the woman was walking alone when she was attacked from behind.
“She was hit first, grabbed around the throat, drug into the ocean, and then held down as she struggled to break free from this individual,” Budensiek said.
The suspect, identified as Said Alexander Hernandez Gonzalez, was arrested Sunday while threatening to kill himself.
Deputies said he could not explain why he attacked the victim.
“For some unknown reason, he went into a rage, went and smacked the phone out of her hand, realized he’d gone too far, pulled her into the ocean, and started trying to drown her,” Budensiek said.
Investigators said Hernandez Gonzalez told them he only stopped the attack once he thought the victim was dead.
Budensiek said deputies told Hernandez Gonzalez the victim was still alive and asked if he felt remorse.
“His response was, ‘No, I don’t feel nothing,'” Budensiek said.
Hernandez Gonzalez is charged with attempted first-degree murder and is being held in the Martin County Jail without bond.
The sheriff said Hernandez Gonzalez is in the country illegally and is also being held for immigration authorities.
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