Illegal alien ambushes Fla woman, tries to brutally drown her to death in ocean, police say
A peaceful stroll along a beloved Florida shoreline turned into a nightmare — and now a Venezuelan national who entered the country illegally is sitting behind bars.
Authorities say 26-year-old Said Alexander Hernandez Gonzalez ambushed a woman late at night at Tiger Shores Beach in Stuart, attacking her without warning and attempting to drown her in the ocean.
Law enforcement officials describe the assault as random, vicious, and deeply disturbing.
“This is an extremely alarming case,” John Budensiek, Sheriff of Martin County Sheriff’s Office, told reporters. “Random acts of violence like this are some of the most difficult crimes to solve — and that’s exactly what this was.”
According to investigators, the woman had been walking along the shoreline around 11 p.m., speaking on her phone, when Hernandez Gonzalez allegedly approached from behind. Without provocation, deputies say he struck her, forced her into the surf, and tried to hold her underwater.
“About five minutes after passing him, she was brutally attacked,” Budensiek reportedly said. “She was grabbed around the throat, dragged into the ocean, and held down as she struggled to break free.”
In the violent struggle, the victim lost consciousness. Authorities believe the suspect assumed she was dead. He allegedly hurled her cellphone into the water and left her there.
“The next thing she recalled was waking up half in and half out of the water,” Budensiek told the outlet.
Somehow — through sheer will and determination — the woman regained consciousness, staggered more than a mile down the beach, and located a deputy in nearby Stuart. Her survival is nothing short of miraculous.
The suspect wasn’t caught immediately. Days later, a tipster alerted authorities about a suicidal man who claimed he had killed someone on a local beach. That lead brought deputies to Hernandez Gonzalez.
When confronted with the fact that the woman had survived, his reaction stunned investigators.
“When asked if he felt any remorse, his response was, ‘No, I don’t feel nothing,’” Budensiek reportedly said.
Hernandez Gonzalez is now being held without bond at the Martin County Jail, facing charges of attempted first-degree premeditated murder.
Authorities say 26-year-old Said Alexander Hernandez Gonzalez ambushed a woman late at night at Tiger Shores Beach in Stuart, attacking her without warning and attempting to drown her in the ocean.
Law enforcement officials describe the assault as random, vicious, and deeply disturbing.
“This is an extremely alarming case,” John Budensiek, Sheriff of Martin County Sheriff’s Office, told reporters. “Random acts of violence like this are some of the most difficult crimes to solve — and that’s exactly what this was.”
According to investigators, the woman had been walking along the shoreline around 11 p.m., speaking on her phone, when Hernandez Gonzalez allegedly approached from behind. Without provocation, deputies say he struck her, forced her into the surf, and tried to hold her underwater.
“About five minutes after passing him, she was brutally attacked,” Budensiek reportedly said. “She was grabbed around the throat, dragged into the ocean, and held down as she struggled to break free.”
In the violent struggle, the victim lost consciousness. Authorities believe the suspect assumed she was dead. He allegedly hurled her cellphone into the water and left her there.
“The next thing she recalled was waking up half in and half out of the water,” Budensiek told the outlet.
Somehow — through sheer will and determination — the woman regained consciousness, staggered more than a mile down the beach, and located a deputy in nearby Stuart. Her survival is nothing short of miraculous.
The suspect wasn’t caught immediately. Days later, a tipster alerted authorities about a suicidal man who claimed he had killed someone on a local beach. That lead brought deputies to Hernandez Gonzalez.
When confronted with the fact that the woman had survived, his reaction stunned investigators.
“When asked if he felt any remorse, his response was, ‘No, I don’t feel nothing,’” Budensiek reportedly said.
Hernandez Gonzalez is now being held without bond at the Martin County Jail, facing charges of attempted first-degree premeditated murder.
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