KANNAPOLIS — A Kannapolis woman was attacked in her home by a man she described as intoxicated and “grungy,” according to Rowan County authorities.

The woman, who lives in the southwestern part of the county off Unity Church Road, said she heard at knock on her door about 8:40 a.m. Tuesday. She opened the door slightly to find a man on her steps asking whether someone named Chris lived there.

She told the man that he was at the wrong home and that no one by that name lived there. He yanked open the storm door and grabbed her by the throat, she said, then shoved her backward and began squeezing her by the neck. She told authorities that he appeared intoxicated.

Throughout the ordeal, she kept telling the man that no Chris lived at the home, but he was not convinced, she said. She managed to get free and grabbed a knife and her phone. The man ran out of the home.

The suspect is described as a white man in his 30s with blond, shaggy and curly hair. He wore blue jeans and a black T-shirt with a lot of holes in it. He was “grungy” looking, the woman told officers.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the Rowan County Sheriff’s Office at 704-216-8700 or Salisbury-Rowan CrimeStoppers at 866-639-5245 or anonymous tips can be made online at http://tips.salisburyrowancrimestoppers.org/.