Scary, shirtless thug caught on video trying to sexually assault vape shop worker near midnight — but she bravely fights back

A terrifying scene was recorded on surveillance video earlier this month as a shirtless male posing as a customer at a Florida vape shop tried to sexually assault a woman working behind the counter around midnight.

The brave woman not only fought back, but also she appeared on camera for a WTVJ-TV report on the incident to encourage other females who go through what she endured to speak up and speak out without shame.

'I want every girl to know what happened to me, so that if they ever go through something like that, they are able to speak up and just know that it's not their fault.'

The male entered the Miami Springs shop around midnight Nov. 9, near closing time, and the station said he appeared friendly at first, asking the female clerk questions.

But soon surveillance video caught the moment when the shirtless male very slowly walked around the counter opening and toward the woman behind the counter; she backed away.

He then grabbed both of her wrists and began walking backward, dragging her away from the counter. She resisted as best she could and begged him, "Please get away, sir!"

But the male was significantly taller and stronger, and WTVJ said he dragged her into a back room and put a shirt over her face.

"He was trying, once again, like I said, touching my [expletive], trying to pull my pants off, and I was just asking him not to do it, please not to do anything to me, and fighting back," the woman told the station in the aftermath.

Her fighting back included a moment when she grabbed a toilet plunger and began beating him with it, as her screaming grew louder.

The attack ended back in the main part of the store, video shows, where the male is seen letting the woman go and fleeing from the store.

"The only thing I had in my head, once again, was that I didn't want to ... get raped," the woman told WTVJ. "I just wanted to try to save myself as much as I could."

The station noted that anyone with information is asked to call Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at 305-471-TIPS.

"I want every girl to know what happened to me, so that if they ever go through something like that, they are able to speak up and just know that it's not their fault," the woman added to WTVJ. "It’s not your fault that you have to go through something like that and that there's people like him out there."

You can view a video report here about the attack.

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