Police are looking for a man who forced a woman to the ground in Dunedin's Town Belt yesterday morning in what they believe was a sexually motivated attack.
Senior Sergeant Steve Aitken said the woman had parked her car on Canongate, near Serpentine Ave, and was walking up a track towards Maori Rd and Jubilee Park about 9.30am when she noticed a man walking towards her.
The man continued past her, but a few minutes later she walked back down and saw the man walking back towards her.
"He then grabbed her and pushed her to the ground and held her there for a short time before releasing her," Snr Sgt Aitken said.
The woman ran off in the direction of Canongate and, as she telephoned police, saw the offender running back up the track towards Maori Rd.
The woman, who was helping police, was not injured but was left shaken, he said.
People were in the area at the time of the attack and anyone with information was asked to contact Detective Senior Sergeant Kallum Croudis on (03) 471-4800.
Police were investigating if the attack was related to an incident in which a man fitting a similar description approached two 14-year-old girls in Pitt St about 3pm on Sunday and asked them to enter a white van, which had a gold and brown strip along the bottom edge.
The girls declined and the man drove off while watching them in the vehicle's rear view mirror.
