CAMDEN – A bicyclist escaped from a would-be kidnapper after he forced her off the road Sunday with his pickup truck, police said Monday.

The 59-year-old woman, whom police would not identify, was bicycling before 6 p.m. Sunday on Molyneaux Road, about two miles west of downtown.

Lt. Randy Gagne said the woman heard a vehicle revving its engine behind her shortly before the truck struck her bicycle, throwing her into a ditch along the road. As she fell, the woman lost her eyeglasses, he said.

The woman got up and began walking toward the truck. The man, who had gotten out of the vehicle, then told her, “Get the f– in the truck,” Gagne said.

The woman refused and a struggle ensued. The man forced the woman into the passenger side of the small pickup, but when the man walked around the vehicle to get into the driver’s seat, the woman fled, the officer said.

Gagne said she then saw her glasses and was able to put them on, and began to run and scream for help.

The man again accosted her, and they struggled again. A man driving toward the scene, who told police he did not want his name released, stopped to assist the woman, Gagne said, and the attacker returned to his truck and fled.

Gagne said the attacker drove toward Route 105 and made a left turn, heading west toward Hope.

Police said the woman did not know her attacker.

The victim, the man who assisted her and another bicyclist farther along Molyneaux Road were able to describe the truck to police. The vehicle is believed to be a black or dark-colored, early- or mid-1990s Toyota or Nissan pickup, with a silver or white tool box in the cargo bed. The truck had Maine license plates, the witnesses said.

The attacker was described as a white man between 22 and 30, about 6 feet tall with a wiry build, a long face, clean-shaven and with short hair. He was wearing a light-colored T-shirt, witnesses told police.

Gagne said police expected to meet with the woman to try to create a drawing of the man.

The woman declined medical attention at the scene, but later sought a medical evaluation, the officer said. She did not suffer any serious injury, he said.

Gagne credited the woman with acting appropriately.

“She maintained her cool under pressure,” he said. “She fought her attacker off, and had she not, we may be talking about a very different result. I think she did everything right.”

Gagne also praised the man who came to her rescue.

“He said he would not stand by and see a woman victimized. He knew that he needed to do something,” the officer said.

The assault is being investigated by Officers Patrick Polky and Jason Fowler. Anyone who may have seen the truck Sunday evening or who may be able to identify its owner is asked to call Camden police at 236-3030.

Police are asking that anyone bicycling or walking in rural areas around Camden be cautious and alert.