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Saugus Woman Says Dog Scared Off Attacker

SAUGUS (CBS) -- A Saugus woman is calling her dog a hero after she says she was sexually assaulted at knifepoint while out running Tuesday night.

The woman said she was just a block away from home with her dog Rosie when a man came out of nowhere on Nason Road and shoved her against a tree.

"He grabbed my hair and my shirt from behind and whispered in my ear not to scream, I have a knife," the woman told WBZ-TV. "I stayed still and that's when he kind of groped my body."

The woman said she could only think of her children during the frightening attack.

"I said 'Please don't hurt me, I have babies,'" she recalled. "He said, 'Don't scream, this will only take a minute.'"

The woman said she tried to break free by thrashing her head back and forth and moving her arms, but he punched her in the face. That's when Rosie jumped in.

"She started to go nuts," the woman said.

Other neighborhood dogs also started barking, and that's when the man took off.

Neighbors were shocked and upset by the attack, but the woman says she will not live in fear.

"You should be able to do whatever you like," she said. "You should be able to run in your neighborhood if you want."

The woman was able to get home and called police.

Police are looking for a tall, thin man who's around 20-years old. The woman said he was wearing cologne, a long-sleeved red shirt, dark pants, possible jeans and clean white sneakers. Officers think he may have had a vehicle nearby.

The investigation is ongoing and anyone with information is asked to call police.

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