Two CSUN students intervened in an attempted kidnapping Wednesday night after hearing screams for help in front of their home.

A man struck a female student on her back, with what witnesses believe to be a pipe, as she was walking back to her car on Rathburn Avenue after class, said one witness.

“We heard a high pitch scream saying ‘help me,’ so we went outside and saw a guy standing over a girl,” she said. “We asked if everything was okay and he stood there, looked at us and ran off.”

She and another witness, who wished to remain anonymous, ran after the man as he drove off in a black SUV to try to get the license number. But because the street was dark, and the car had no lights on, they were unable to note the license plate number.

The man was about 6-foot-1 and “skinny,” the second witness said. He was wearing all black, including a black beanie and a hooded sweater.

“I couldn’t see anything else, I wish I did,” she said.

The first witness then approached the victim, who had made her way to a neighbor’s driveway, and helped her inside her home. The victim told them that the man told her to be quiet “unless you want to die tonight.”

“She said she was walking to her car and the next thing she knew she hit the pavement,” she said.

A neighbor had called the police, and the victim was taken by ambulance to get treated for the injuries she sustained.

“A neighbor who’s lived on the street for eight years said this has never happened before,” the second witness said. “It definitely made me a little paranoid.”

Campus authorities did confirm that the incident occurred, but because it’s an ongoing investigation they were unable to comment.