‘He’s still strangling me, and I go unconscious’: Jogger recalls terrifying attack in Riverview

Nicole Rogers
·3 min read
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RIVERVIEW, Fla. (WFLA) — From robbing a gas station, to attacking a jogger, then breaking into someone’s home, 31-year-old Matthew Green Jr. has racked up several accusations and a slew of charges.

This story starts at the 7-Eleven gas station off of Fishhawk Boulevard in Lithia. It’s where deputies said Green asked for a pack of cigarettes then demanded cash, saying, “I have a gun, don’t think I won’t use it.”

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Investigators said Green took just that $10 pack of cigarettes and left. It wasn’t even a mile away where deputies said he came in contact with his next victim.

“I was just for a run in my area, and this man was walking next to me a little bit and then asked to use my phone,” a woman told News Channel 8.

That woman, who did not want to be identified out of fear for her safety, said Green’s anger came out of nowhere.

“All of the sudden, he kind of jumps on me from the back and starts strangling me and pins me to the floor.”

“He starts screaming at me,” she continued. “All of the sudden he’s still strangling me, and I go unconscious.”

That’s when she said a Good Samaritan drove by.

“I saw him, then I backed up real quick,” Corinne Sanchez-Melton explained. “Then he saw me, and that’s when he took off.”

Melton said she was on her way to physical therapy. That’s when she looked out of her car window in dismay.

“She looked like she was passed out and he had his hands around her throat and he was on top of her,” Melton said.

She helped the woman into her car, then took her home. The woman’s mother called 911, and then the hunt was on to find Green.

Detectives found a nearby home with an open window and screen that had been tampered with. Investigators said they found Green hiding behind a washer and dryer inside.

That jogger told News Channel 8, she’s live today all thanks to Melton. But to Melton, it was just the right thing to do.

“I didn’t think twice about it, she said. “You just do it.”

“When you have kids, I think it’s just something you automatically do,” she explained. “I wouldn’t want that to happen to my daughter.”

The jogger hopes sharing her story will serve as a reminder to young women to always be aware of your surroundings.

“You never know what could happen, and I also really just want young women to be so sure of your surroundings,” she explained. “Always double-checking, looking behind you.”

“Be careful,” she continued. “Always look around.”

“Always have something on you, your phone, anything so that you’re safe, and you get to make it home safe at night,” she concluded.

Green is facing the following charges:

  • Robbery with a Firearm (Less than $750)

  • Robbery $750 or More but Less Than $20,000

  • Battery by Strangulation

  • Grand Theft Third Degree ($750 – $5,000)

  • Violation of Parole, Probable Cause, Violation of Parole Robbery Gun or Deadly Weapon x2

  • Violation of Parole, Probable Cause, Violation of Parole Felon/Delinquent with Gun/Concealed Weapon/Ammo x2

A judge denied his bond, so Green will be sitting in jail until his pretrial detention hearing Tuesday at 9 a.m.

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