A woman says she was grabbed and nearly forced into a van just blocks from the Halifax Common.

Police say it happened Tuesday around 3:30pm. A woman walking near Falkland and Maynard streets was approached by a man in a red mini-van with an automatic sliding door.

The man got out of the van and attempted to throw the woman in the vehicle. She was able to break free and run.

The woman says she does not know her attacker.

Police are looking for a white man in his late forties or early fifties, six feet tall, with a pot belly, scruffy greying beard and brown eyes. At the time, he was wearing a blue baseball hat, dark sweatshirt, blue jeans and he had a strong smell of cologne. He also spoke with a scratchy voice.