‘Survivor’ Alum Michelle Yi Stabbed and Beaten in Attack

Survivor: Fiji contestant Michelle Yi was attacked and beaten with a metal baton Thursday morning outside a pilates studio in Santa Monica, California by a woman whom police claim had attacked to other people before her. Yi recalled the attack to PEOPLE, saying she arrived to the studio where she taught classes when she noticed an agitated woman approaching the front door.

“She was yelling all sorts of things like, ‘You stole my identity’ and, ‘You’re a prostitute,’” Yi, 37, told the outlet. “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.’”

The woman, whom police identified as Alexandria Diaz, 25, of Fresno, reportedly lunged at Yi with a sharp object and a metal baton. “She stabbed me in the left bicep,” the reality personality said. “And then she hit me on the right hand with the baton. My Apple Watch shattered.” Yi said she was then hit on the head with the baton and her face was “split open,” with blood going “everywhere.”

When the woman ran off, Yi and one of her students called 911, only to be told operators were busy. Shortly after, they flagged down an officer in the street. Lieutenant Rudy Flores, a spokesman for the Santa Monica Police Department told PEOPLE that officers took Diaz into custody soon after arriving on the scene. Yi was taken to the hospital, where she received several stitches on her face and a X-ray on her hand. “Fortunately, nothing was fractured,” she said.

“I can’t say why she attacked me, of all people,” continued Yi. “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.”

Police confirmed that Diaz did allegedly attack two other people before Yi. “It appeared that she was mentally unstable and maybe off her medication,” Flores said. “That probably caused her to do what she did.” The woman has been charged with three counts of assault with a deadly weapon but has not been charged with a hate crime. She remains in custody. As for Yi, she said her physical injuries were “on the mend,” but that the emotional impact was “harder” from which to recover.