Police are investigating after a woman reported a man tried to abduct her and force her into his vehicle Saturday evening in Acton, Massachusetts.
The police department received a 911 call from a 39-year-old Acton woman around 9:50 p.m. The caller stated that a man tried to abduct her while she was walking on Great Road near the entrance to the Bruce Freeman Rail Trail.
Officers responded to the woman's home, where the woman told police she had been walking on Route 2A earlier in the evening when she stumbled over a rock or depression in the sidewalk. A man reportedly then pulled up beside her, got out of his vehicle and asked if she needed help.
According to police, the woman said that's when the man then grabbed her, told her she needed to go to a hospital and tried to force her into his vehicle despite her verbal objections and resistance.
Get Boston local news, weather forecasts, lifestyle and entertainment stories to your inbox. Sign up for NBC Boston’s newsletters.
The woman said she was able to free herself from the man and threatened to call the police, allegedly prompting the man to return to his vehicle and drive away toward Littleton.
The woman described the man as approximately 30 years old, between 5’5” and 5’9” tall, with short hair. He was reportedly wearing a short sleeve black shirt and long black working pants. He is said to have a mark or healed scar from his left temple to his upper left cheek bone.
The vehicle he is said to have been driving is described as an older, dark-colored Toyota Corolla with out-of-state plates that were blue or orange.
Local
In-depth news coverage of the Greater Boston Area.
The incident has Acton residents on edge, including one woman who says she lives near the victim.
“It’s horrifying and I hope they catch him," she said. "She told me someone tried to shove her in a car last night and I said, 'you mean the area where I walk through at night all the time?', and she said, 'yeah.'”
“It’s so scary, it is so scary I'm glad that she got away," said Andrea Mercurio. "But this isn’t a place where it has a lot of lights and things like that so you have to think about it before you go out.”
“I lived here for 60 years you could leave your garage doors open, your house open, I think it’s changed,” Chuck Mercurio added.
This incident is being actively investigated. Anyone who may have witnessed it or who has seen someone matching the suspect’s description is asked to call the Acton Police Department at 978-264-9638.
