STUART, Fla. (CBS12) — A 26-year-old Port St. Lucie man is facing an attempted first-degree murder charge after deputies say he attacked a woman on the beach in Stuart and tried to drown her in the ocean.

According to the Martin County Sheriff’s Office, deputies responded around 11 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 12, to a disturbance call at Stuart Beach, located at 889 NE Ocean Boulevard.

The victim told deputies she had been walking north along the shoreline while on the phone with her sister when an unknown man attacked her from behind.

Investigators say the attacker grabbed her phone and threw it into the ocean, then pulled her hair, grabbed her neck and forced her head underwater, holding her there so she could not breathe. Deputies said she swallowed seawater during the attack and at one point may have lost consciousness.

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The victim was able to break free and run south toward the Stuart Beach entrance, where she encountered deputies. Martin County Fire Rescue responded, but she declined transport to the hospital.

According to the affidavit, the victim’s sister had been on the phone with her for more than an hour and heard screaming and sounds of a struggle before the call disconnected around 10:56 p.m.

On Sunday, Feb. 15, detectives received information from Port St. Lucie Police regarding a man who reportedly mentioned killing a woman by drowning her at the beach within Martin County. That man was identified as Said Alexander Hernandez-Gonzalez, born March 23, 1999.

Detectives interviewed Hernandez-Gonzalez, who admitted he was at Stuart Beach that night. According to the report, he told investigators he had been drinking vodka and smoking marijuana on the beach before seeing a woman walking along the shoreline.

The affidavit states Hernandez-Gonzalez admitted approaching the woman and acknowledged throwing her phone into the water. Investigators wrote that he also admitted to continuing to submerge her head underwater after realizing he had “gone too far,” and that he believed she was dead before leaving the beach.

Deputies say he later returned to his residence in Port St. Lucie.

Hernandez-Gonzalez was arrested and charged with attempted first-degree premeditated murder. He was booked into the Martin County Jail.

The case remains under investigation.