Investigators said a confession during a separate police call helped identify the suspect days later.
STUART, Fla. — A 26-year-old Port St. Lucie man was arrested on an attempted first-degree premeditated murder charge after deputies said he dragged a woman into the ocean at Stuart Beach and held her underwater during a late-night attack on Feb. 12.
Martin County Sheriff John Budensiek called the case a rare, random act of violence and said the victim survived after losing consciousness in the surf and later reaching deputies near the beach entrance. Investigators said they initially had little to identify the attacker, but a separate call in Port St. Lucie days later led police to a man who allegedly described the assault as a killing.
Deputies said the woman went to the beach alone that Thursday night “to clear her head” and walked north along the shoreline near the Tiger Shores area while talking on the phone with her sister. Budensiek said she passed a man on the sand and, about five minutes later, was attacked from behind. He said the attacker grabbed her by the throat, dragged her into the ocean and pinned her down as waves washed over them. The victim’s sister later told investigators she heard screaming and what sounded like a struggle before the call cut off at about 10:56 p.m., deputies said.
Authorities said the attacker knocked the victim’s phone from her hand and threw it into the ocean, severing her only immediate line to help. Budensiek said the suspect kept her underwater for several minutes as she tried to time breaths with the waves, then she lost consciousness. “The next thing she recalled was waking up half in and half out of the water,” Budensiek said. Deputies responded to the disturbance call around 11 p.m. at Stuart Beach, 889 NE Ocean Blvd., and found the woman wet, visibly distraught and with bruising on her neck and face, the sheriff said.
Investigators said the woman pulled herself out of the surf, crossed the dunes and made her way south toward the Stuart Beach entrance, where she encountered deputies already on scene. In the days that followed, detectives worked to identify the attacker with limited information and no prior connection between the victim and the suspect, Budensiek said. “Random acts of violence like this are some of the most difficult crimes to solve — and that’s exactly what this was,” he said.
The break came Sunday, Feb. 15, during an unrelated mental health call in Port St. Lucie, authorities said. Police were contacted by a woman who reported her boyfriend was suicidal, and while officers were speaking with him, he allegedly told them he had murdered a woman on a beach in Martin County and left her for dead. Budensiek said that call set off a rapid handoff between agencies and brought Martin County detectives to Port St. Lucie to interview the man and compare his account to the earlier beach assault.
Budensiek identified the suspect as Said Alexander Hernandez-Gonzalez, a Port St. Lucie resident who the sheriff said is an undocumented immigrant from Venezuela with an expired work visa. Investigators said Hernandez-Gonzalez admitted he was at Stuart Beach the night of the attack, drinking vodka and smoking marijuana, and walked along the same stretch of shoreline as the victim. During an interview, Budensiek said, Hernandez-Gonzalez claimed he believed the woman was recording him or talking about him on her phone and “went into a rage.”
Budensiek said the suspect told investigators he smacked the phone from her hand, pulled her into the ocean and tried to drown her. The sheriff said Hernandez-Gonzalez told detectives he held her down until she went limp and believed she had died. Budensiek said detectives told the suspect the woman survived, and he showed no remorse. When asked if he felt remorse, Budensiek said the suspect replied, “No. I don’t feel nothing.”
Hernandez-Gonzalez was booked into the Martin County Jail and is being held without bond, the sheriff said. Investigators did not release the victim’s name and did not describe any prior contact between the two. Budensiek said the investigation remained active Tuesday, including a continued review of timelines and evidence from the shoreline and waterline area, as detectives prepared their case for prosecutors.
Deputies said the victim’s family realized something was wrong when the sister’s phone call abruptly ended during the screaming. A separate 911 call later released by authorities captured a relative urgently reporting that the woman had been on the phone moments earlier and then went silent. The caller gave dispatchers details about the victim’s vehicle and described rushing toward Ocean Boulevard as units headed to the beach, underscoring how quickly the attack unfolded.
Authorities said the case now hinges on the attempted murder charge and the supporting evidence gathered since the arrest, with Hernandez-Gonzalez expected to face initial court proceedings in Martin County. The sheriff’s office said it would continue working with prosecutors as the criminal case moves forward.
Author note: Last updated February 17, 2026.