KEY POINTS:
Police say an attempted abduction of a woman in Hamilton last night does not precisely follow the pattern used by an alleged serial rapist they are hunting.
A Hamilton student used martial arts skills to fight off a man who tried to abduct her near the intersection of Caro St and Alexandra St in downtown Hamilton about midnight.
She had been walking with a female friend when the passenger in a silver two-door Porsche-style car tried to drag her into the car by the arm.
The woman, who had some martial arts training, managed to land one solid blow to her attacker and escaped his clutches.
The two men in the car, which had no rear number plate, were described as skinheads. One was wearing a black hoodie.
Police were investigating links between this car and reports of a silver two-door Nissan Skyline acting suspiciously near the Alexandra St bars a short time earlier .
The alleged serial rapist police have been hunting in Hamilton since the start of the month was also reported to be driving a silver car, but inquiry head Detective Senior Sergeant Chris Page said it was hard to say last night's incident was connected.
"There are some differences between this case and the attacks we are investigating as part of Operation Phil," Mr Page told NZPA.
"But we can't categorically rule out a connection. We will continue to investigate last night's events but we will also continue to focus on Operation Phil."
The Operation Phil investigation is looking for a rapist believed to have committed attacks on April 1, May 20 and July 1.
On each occasion a woman who had been out socialising in the downtown Hamilton area had accepted a ride from a man described as credible who drove her away and subsequently attacked her.
Mr Page said the inquiry was continuing to progress but the 25-strong team had a lot of work to go through.
- NZPA
