Popular Survivor alum Michelle Yi is recovering after a horrifying attack at a pilates studio in Santa Monica, California late last week.
The Survivor: Fiji contestant was getting ready to teach a pilates class in a building in the seaside southern California town just before 6:00 a.m. local time last Thursday morning when a “disheveled and agitated” woman approached the studio’s open front door.
The 37-year-old Yi walked up to the woman and informed her she couldn’t be in the facility, and in response, the lady lashed out.
According to Yi, the woman “lunged at her” with a knife in one hand and a metal baton in the other. While trying to defend herself from the unexpected onslaught, Yi was stabbed in the left arm with the knife, and hit twice with the metal baton.
The former reality TV star recalled the incident in an interview with People, explaining how it first began (below):
“She was yelling all sorts of things like, ‘You stole my identity’ and, ‘You’re a prostitute.’ Santa Monica has a homeless problem, and I’ve dealt with this type of thing before. So I told her, ‘Ma’am, you can’t be here. You need to leave.’ She stabbed me in the left bicep, and then she hit me on the right hand with the baton. My Apple Watch shattered.”
After being hit in the head with the metal baton, Yi was made painfully aware of the extent of her injuries:
“My face split open. Blood was everywhere.”
OMG!
The woman ran off after the attack. Yi and one of her students tried to call 9-1-1, but got a message that “all operators were currently busy.” Thankfully, moments later, they were able to flag down a police car that had been driving down the street.
According to Lieutenant Randy Flores of the Santa Monica Police Department, the woman was arrested soon after the incident thanks to the cops who happened upon the scene:
“When we arrived, the suspect was still on the scene. The officers took her into custody and interviewed the victims and the witnesses.”
As for Yi, she was taken to the hospital, where she received several stitches on her face and other treatment for her injuries. Reflecting on the incident and its aftermath, the popular Survivor alum spoke about the woman’s possible motives:
“I can’t say why she attacked me, of all people. 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.”
Lieutenant Flores confirmed that the woman — who was not publicly named — did in fact attack two other people prior to going after Yi. He also added that it’s likely that the alleged attacker was mentally unstable:
“It appeared that she was mentally unstable and maybe off her medication. That probably caused her to do what she did.”
The woman has since been charged with three counts of assault with a deadly weapon, and is currently in police custody. Police have not yet charged her with a hate crime. We send our best wishes to Yi as she continues to recover physically and emotionally from this terrifying incident.
So scary…
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