While we’re usually poking fun at our favorite reality stars and covering all of the details of their outrageous behavior on and off-screen, this story is actually pretty serious. A former contestant from Survivor, Michelle Yi, recently survived a violent attack outside of a pilates studio in Santa Monica, California. To make matters worse, when she dialed 911, there was no one available to help.
Michelle competed on Survivor: Fiji, the show’s 14th season. In an interview with People, she revealed the details of the terrifying attack. It all happened right before 6 am. She was getting ready to teach an early morning pilates class when a homeless woman approached the studio and started entering through the front door. According to the Survivor alum, the woman was yelling things like, “You stole my identity,” and “You’re a prostitute.” Michelle tried to get her to leave, but then, things escalated.
The woman lunged at Michelle with a sharp weapon and a metal baton. “She stabbed me in the left bicep,” Michelle described to People. “And then she hit me on the right hand with the baton. My Apple Watch shattered.”
Michelle says the woman also hit her in the head with the metal baton, causing her face to split open. “Blood was everywhere,” she recalled. Michelle and one of her pilates students called 911, but they got an automated message saying that all operators were busy. Are there that many emergencies happening at 6 am in Santa Monica? Fortunately, they were able to flag down a police car that just happened to be out on the street, and the cops apprehended the attacker before she got away.
The attacker, 25-year-old Alexandria Diaz, was arrested and identified by the police. And it turns out Michelle wasn’t her only victim that day.
“I can’t say why she attacked me, of all people,” Michelle said. “But she was a white lady who attacked three people that morning. Another victim was an elderly Asian man who was walking his dog, and the third was also a person of color. I can’t prove whether it was racially motivated or not, but she was screaming all sorts of awful things at me. The facts are what they are.”
The cops charged Alexandria with three counts of assault with a deadly weapon, but they didn’t charge her with a hate crime. As for Michelle, she was taken to a hospital to get treated for her injuries. Thankfully, nothing was broken, and the wounds from the stabbing were not life-threatening. The police report actually refers to it as a “poke.” Regardless, this was a terrifying experience, and to not be able to get through to 911? That sounds like something out of a horror movie. We wish Michelle a speedy recovery!
[Photo Credit: Monty Brinton/CBS Photo Archive via Getty Images]
