FRYEBURG – Fryeburg police have released a composite sketch of a burglar who attacked a well-known Fryeburg doctor early Wednesday.

Dr. Mary Nash suffered cuts to her hands and head when she returned from a workout at a health club just after 7 a.m. and surprised the man, who was inside her 874 Main St. home.

Fryeburg police Sgt. Michael McAllister said the man, wearing a dark knit cap, struck Nash, who is in her mid-60s, with his fists and a wrench-type tool.

“She made a run for the door, and was able to escape” to a neighbor’s house and call the police, McAllister said. The man was last seen running toward the Saco River, about a half-mile away.

Nash was taken by ambulance to Bridgton Hospital and later transferred to Maine Medical Center, where she was released Wednesday evening, said McAllister, the lead investigator in the case. Nash has a family practice on Portland Street and has lived in town for 29 years, McAllister said.

The burglar apparently gained entry by forcing open a back door, he said.

Evidence technicians from the Maine State Police came to the home Wednesday to collect evidence, while police were assisted by the Maine Warden Service and a state police dog in searching the fields, woods and swampy area behind Nash’s home.

McAllister said the searches continued Thursday, and police are hoping for leads from a composite sketch that has been issued in the case. The suspect is a white male, between 20 and 25 years old, around 5 feet, 8 inches tall and weighing about 170 to 175 pounds. At the time of the assault he was wearing a long-sleeved dark shirt and dark pants, and was carrying a dark green backpack.

McAllister said he believes only one person was involved in the burglary. There have been a couple of other burglaries in town in the last six months that are still under investigation, but McAllister said there appears to be no connection with those to Wednesday’s burglary.