ESCAMBIA COUNTY, Fla. (WKRG) — A man and woman were arrested on multiple charges after a man was beaten, cut and thrown off of a bridge, according to the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office (ECSO).
A deputy with ECSO was on patrol on Oct. 8 just after 8 a.m. and was parked in the Cumberland Farms parking lot. While in the parking lot, a man covered in dry blood with a swollen face approached the deputy.
According to the arrest report, the man was barefoot, barely able to stand and had “large amounts of dried blood on his face, neck, and hands, and had deep lacerations on the front side of his neck.”
The man only spoke Spanish, requiring the deputy to attempt to communicate through Google Translate. The man told the deputy that a woman stuck a knife in his neck, a man beat him and they threw him off a bridge before stealing his car, according to the report.
The deputy took 10 photos before the man was taken to Sacred Heart Hospital. Detailed questioning could not take place at the time since the victim had to go into surgery.
At 2 p.m. that day, the original deputy and another deputy who was used as an interpreter arrived at the hospital to talk more with the victim. The man allegedly told deputies that he had met a woman through Facebook about five days earlier. He said the woman told him she was having money problems and needed food, at which point he offered to take her to buy food.
Before he met the female, the victim went to a restaurant to cash his paycheck. He then went to meet the woman, later identified as 25-year-old Natalie Fonseca, at a gas station. The arrest report said the victim told deputies he bought drinks for her children and then drove the two back to Fonseca’s home.
Once at the home, the victim met a man, later identified as 31-year-old Nafis Reynolds, who Fonseca claimed to be her uncle. The victim said they then went to his home, and eventually, they all left.
After leaving the home, the victim said Reynolds began beating him in the head and cut his throat multiple times while Fonseca drove. Fonseca also allegedly told the victim he was going to die that night.
When they arrived at the bridge, the two allegedly forced the victim out of the car and beat him more. Reynolds then grabbed the victim and threw him over the Escambia River Bridge. After throwing the victim in the water, the two stole his car. Deputies later found the car engulfed in flames.
The victim swam a little ways before reaching a riverbank and passing out from exhaustion. The next morning, a woman in a boat saw the man and brought the man to shore. He then walked from where he was dropped off to the Cumberland’s parking lot where he saw the deputy.
Both Fonseca and Reynolds were arrested and charged with attempted felony murder, carjacking, armed robbery and kidnapping.