{"id":184110,"date":"2026-03-09T13:05:07","date_gmt":"2026-03-09T13:05:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/184110\/"},"modified":"2026-03-09T13:05:07","modified_gmt":"2026-03-09T13:05:07","slug":"stuart-beach-attack-raises-questions-on-immigration-public-safety-and-justice-system","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/184110\/","title":{"rendered":"Stuart beach attack raises questions on immigration, public safety and justice system"},"content":{"rendered":"

STUART, Fla. (CBS12) \u2014 A late-night attack on a Stuart beach<\/a> that left a woman unconscious in the ocean is raising new questions about immigration, public safety, and the justice system.<\/p>\n

Authorities say the attack happened around 11 p.m. on Feb. 12 at South Beach in Stuart, after police received a 911 call<\/a> from the victim\u2019s husband. <\/p>\n

During the call, the husband told the dispatcher the victim’s sister was on the phone with her and heard screaming before the line went silent. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt sounded like she was fighting with someone, and then the phone went dead,\u201d the sister said.<\/p>\n

Deputies responded and found a woman who had survived what investigators described as a brutal, random attack. <\/p>\n

The victim told investigators she had been walking on the beach while talking on her cellphone with her sister when she was suddenly grabbed by the throat, dragged into the ocean, and held underwater until she was unconscious.<\/p>\n

Martin County Sheriff John Budensiek<\/a> described the case as a random act of violence. <\/p>\n

\u201cRandom acts of violence like this are some of the most difficult crimes to solve \u2014 and that\u2019s exactly what this was,\u201d Budensiek said.<\/p>\n

Investigators later identified the suspect as Said Alexander Hernandez Gonzalez, a Venezuelan national who was living in Port St. Lucie. Budensiek said Hernandez Gonzalez showed no remorse when questioned. \u201cWhen asked if he felt any remorse, his response was, \u2018No. I don\u2019t feel nothing,\u2019\u201d Budensiek said.<\/p>\n

Hernandez Gonzalez has been charged with attempted murder, first degree. <\/p>\n

See also: Sheriff: Undocumented man tried to drown woman at Stuart beach, believed he killed her<\/a><\/p>\n

The sheriff\u2019s office said Hernandez Gonzalez admitted he was on the beach drunk and high, believed the victim was recording him on her phone, and went into a rage. <\/p>\n

Little more was released about his mental health, but investigators said his girlfriend told them she was afraid he was suicidal.<\/p>\n

A Department of Homeland Security press release said Hernandez Gonzalez first entered the United States in 2023 \u201cillegally,\u201d but was later granted Temporary Protected Status, or TPS, under the Biden administration.<\/p>\n

Federal defense attorney David Tarras said TPS decisions are tied to conditions in a person\u2019s home country. <\/p>\n

\u201cThose were based on the socioeconomic conditions as determined by the Secretary of Homeland Security from the United States at that time,\u201d Tarras said. \u201cIndividuals who entered the US \u2013 even if illegally, meaning that they did not have any status or otherwise legal justification to behere \u2013 they were not to be deported if they received this temporary protected status.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tarras said when a country has a TPS designation, people from that country who come to the U.S. often receive temporary work authorization while they wait for their immigration case to be heard.<\/p>\n

Budensiek said Hernandez Gonzalez\u2019s work visa expired, and that DHS ended TPS for Venezuelans last October.<\/p>\n

A Freedom of Information Act request was submitted seeking Hernandez Gonzalez\u2019s immigration filings to better understand how and why he entered the U.S., including whether he was claiming asylum and whether he came through Mexico. <\/p>\n

DHS had not responded to the request.<\/p>\n

Hernandez Gonzalez remains in the Martin County Jail with a trial pending. <\/p>\n

Tarras said defendants typically remain in the U.S. while an aggravated felony case moves through the courts. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhile the criminal case is pending \u2013 especially in the case of an aggravated felony, that person is going to stay — that defendant is going to stay in the United States and that case is going to play through,\u201d Tarras said.<\/p>\n

Tarras also said that if Hernandez Gonzalez is sentenced to decades in prison, he would be transferred to immigration custody afterward. <\/p>\n

\u201cIf he gets 40 years \u2013 under the law, he serves 40 years minus whatever time he had in his credit \u2013 and then he\u2019s immediately taken to an ICE facility,\u201d Tarras said.<\/p>\n

Hernandez Gonzalez was appointed a public defender, and a court date has not been set.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"STUART, Fla. (CBS12) \u2014 A late-night attack on a Stuart beach that left a woman unconscious in the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":157515,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[171,173,172],"class_list":["post-184110","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-port-st-lucie","tag-port-st-lucie","tag-port-st-lucie-headlines","tag-port-st-lucie-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/184110","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=184110"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/184110\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/157515"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=184110"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=184110"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=184110"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}