Man sought in attempted abduction of jogger

Police say man struck woman in head, tried to drag her into woods

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Police in Jacksonville are looking for a man they said tried to kidnap a woman near the Avenues Mall on the Southside on Wednesday evening.

Police said the attempted abduction happened about 6:15 p.m. on Timberlin Park Boulevard, off Southside Boulevard between Baymeadows Road and Philips Highway.

Investigators said the 25-year-old woman was jogging in the area when a man followed her as she tried to get away. The woman told police the man hit her four times in the head and tried to drag her into the woods.

She broke free, and someone driving by stopped and called police, investigators said.

The man is being sought on an aggravated battery charge. Police said his intention was to attack someone.

"The big concern is the fact that he's still out there," Jacksonville Sheriff's Office Chief Tom Hackney said. "He's unidentified, and we have somebody who attacked a woman. She's completely innocent in what she's doing. There's many people that do the exact same thing that she's doing, and he obviously targeted her for an attack. That leaves us great concern with this whole incident."

The man is described as between 18 and 25 years old, between 5 feet 6 inches and 5 feet 9 inches tall, between 180 and 200 pounds, with brown hair.

Police also said there was a newer model red Nissan Titan pickup truck in the area at the time, but it's unclear what role the truck played in the incident.

Anyone with any information on his identity is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 866-845-TIPS.