[imagesource: Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office]

A woman was exercising alone in her apartment complex gym when a man suddenly attacked her.

Thank goodness 24-year-old Nashali Alma is as strong as she is, as she was able to fight the man off, make an escape and call emergency services.

The incident took place at her gym at the Inwood Park Apartment Complex in Tampa, Florida late at night on January 22. The Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office released footage of the attack on social media.

It shows Alma running away from Xavier Thomas-Jones before he tried to pin her to the ground:

“I said, ‘Bro, what the F are you doing? Get away from me. Stop trying to touch me.’ He started chasing me around the bench, and we ended up on the other side of the gym.”

Apparently, Thomas-Jones lived at the Inwood complex, but it’s unclear if Alma knew him before he launched at her in the gym:

Sickeningly, The New York Post revealed that Thomas-Jones wasn’t quite done with his sexual impulses after Alma got away:

[He] fled — and tried to enter another woman’s apartment in the complex. He was apprehended by deputies less than 24 hours later, FOX13 reported.

Once in custody, Thomas-Jones allegedly admitted restraining and battering Alma because he wanted to have sex with her, the outlet reported. He allegedly targeted the second woman, whose name hasn’t been released, because he thought she was “pretty.”

Thomas-Jones has been in custody on charges of sexual battery, false imprisonment, burglary and kidnapping.

Alma hopes that her harrowing experience can inspire other women to learn to fight for themselves and not give up:

“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,” she said.

“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.”

While women can totally benefit from making themselves strong enough to fight off men, men should also be taking a hard look at themselves, their mindsets and their behaviours, to ensure this kind of entitlement and violence is totally squashed.

[source:nypost]