CCTV footage catches a lone figure in a nurse's uniform strolling down a busy Sydney road late on Wednesday night.
She follows the Pacific Highway bend at Crows Nest and turns onto Falcon St, heading home after her shift at North Shore Private Hospital.
Minutes later, the 28-year-old woman is grabbed by a stranger in a terrifying abduction attempt, with the nurse later telling police her attacker covered her mouth and tried to force her into the boot of his silver or grey sedan.
She hits him in the groin, prompting him to release his grip.
The man flees and is last seen about 10.25pm driving up Sophia St, a narrow one-way lane lined with houses, following the attack.
Residents said they heard the woman scream before she ran to a nearby Caltex station where the attendant tried to calm her down until police arrived minutes later.
Detectives have collected CCTV footage from the station, believed to show the traumatised woman running inside.
Officers also took footage from cameras at businesses on Crows Nest's main drag, including some showing the nurse walking on her own.
Superintendent Allan Sicard says every detective in his local command is on the case and the Sex Crimes Squad is involved.
Supt Sicard said getting kicked in the groin must have left this man in pain and anyone he might have gone home to might have noticed.
"Someone will know this man," he said.
"He might have come to someone's house, someone's unit, someone's social group, been in a degree of pain, anxious or maybe sweating."
He said the attack was extremely out of character for the lower north shore area and asked the public not to let the fear of crime rule their lives.
In wake of the attack, the hospital has advised staff to avoid walking home alone in the dark.
Police have described the man as Middle Eastern or Indian, aged in his 30s and about 175cm tall with a stocky build.
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