Detectives in Lower Hutt say several separate attacks on young women may be linked.
In the latest assault, a woman was grabbed by a man with a knife near the Ava railway bridge at 5.30pm on Wednesday, but she screamed and got away.
Police say it was a serious assault with suspected sexual overtones.
Connections to similar attacks in April and May, or two recent indecent assaults on females in the suburb of Naenae, are not being ruled out.
