KEY POINTS:
Police are following leads in the hunt for an armed man who terrorised a woman out biking in New Plymouth at the weekend.
The 21-year-old student, who did not want to be named, says she's having flashbacks about the attack, which occurred just before 6pm on Sunday at the eastern end of the city's coastal walkway at Waiwhakaiho.
She feared for her life when a crazed man rammed her with his car and then came after her with a knife, she told the Taranaki Daily News.
"He just came out of nowhere," she said. He crashed into her, after deliberately accelerating towards her as she rode along the grass verge.
She was left tangled up between her bike and the bonnet, with the car unable to go any further because it had hit a large boulder.
"I was expecting an apology, but then he pulls out a diving knife and comes for me.
"He actually wanted to kill me. He had that look in his eyes."
She fled for her life, escaping with a cut on one leg and a bruise on the other.
The man is described as a very unkempt middle-aged Maori with dark brown collar-length hair and a shaggy beard. At the time of the attack he was barefoot, wearing tight trackpants and a striped jersey.
- NZPA
