Middleborough police released the following update around 5 p.m. Monday:

MIDDLEBOROUGH — Chief Joseph Perkins reports that the Middleborough Police Department has determined that a woman’s story about an attempted abduction was untrue following an investigation and there is currently no reason to believe there is any danger to the public. The woman told police Monday afternoon that a man tried to abduct her and force her into his van on Clay Street. Through a thorough investigation into the alleged incident, police have determined that the attempted abduction did not occur. The incident remains under active investigation.

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Original story:

Middleborough police are investigating an attempted abduction after a 27-year-old woman told them a man tried to force her into his van Monday afternoon.

Around 12:45 p.m., authorities received a call from the woman, who reported that the man tried to abduct her on Clay Street, officials said in a statement.

The woman, a Middleborough resident, told officers she was walking down the street when the man, behind the wheel of a rust red colored utility van, drove up to her and asked for directions.

“A short time later, the man got out of the van and walked up behind the woman and grabbed her by her face and began pulling her toward his van,” authorities said.


The woman broke free from the man’s grip before she ran into the woods and called police, officials said. The man also fled the scene in an unknown direction.

She described the alleged perpetrator as a white man, appearing to be in his 40s or 50s, with “light-colored facial hair,” police said. At the time, he was wearing a backwards baseball cap and sunglasses.

Anyone who witnessed the incident or has seen a man matching that description is asked to call police at 508-947-1212.