ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla. — A disturbing attempted kidnapping caught on camera has sparked a renewed focus on personal safety and self-defense in Northeast Florida.
The incident happened in broad daylight on State Road 206 East in St. Johns County.
Surveillance footage shows a man ambushing a woman, locking her in a chokehold, and dragging her toward a nearby truck. The shocking video has many residents asking a critical question: how do you fight back?
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At Underground Fitness and Self-Defense, instructor Benjamin LeMasters used the video as a teaching moment, pausing the footage mid-attack to show exactly what happened and how to respond.
“From the neck like this, and he is pulling her back,” a student explained, demonstrating the technique used by the attacker.
LeMasters praised the victim’s instinctive response.
“Number one, I saw her fighting back and yelling—that is the first thing we teach in self-defense. You have to do something.”
According to LeMasters, the woman’s reaction followed the fundamentals of survival in a real-world attack.
“The other thing I noticed is that it was an untrained attacker. Most attackers are not trained, so if you can demonstrate that you are a threat, that definitely puts you at an advantage.”
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In his class, students learned how to break free from chokeholds, target vulnerable areas, and avoid being pulled into a vehicle.
“The first thing you wanna do is try to hit them with something. If it’s not an elbow, stomp their foot,” LeMasters advised during a demonstration.
Jessica Jordan, a student at Gracie Jiu-Jitsu, showed Action News Jax how she would respond in a similar situation.
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Nicholas: “How can a person get out of a chokehold?”
Jessica: “We call it the rear pull-back defense.”
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The move was then demonstrated in real time, offering a glimpse of how the technique can be applied under pressure.
LeMasters also discussed self-defense tools and emphasized that even simple body movements can be powerful when executed correctly.
“They can go in all different kinds of directions, and it’s very safe to you—very damaging to your attacker,” he said while demonstrating the use of elbows in a close-combat scenario.
LeMasters stressed that self-defense isn’t about confrontation—it’s about survival.
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