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Bail was set at $400,000 for a 30-year-old Hackensack ex-con charged with sexually assaulting and robbing a woman who notified police after she saw him in a local 7-Eleven on Christmas Eve.
As Daily Voice originally reported that night, Hackensack police tracked down Willie Banks at his Poplar Avenue residence -- a short distance from the scene of the Nov. 27 assault -- after reviewing surveillance images from the Main Street convenience store.
SEE: Chance Encounter Leads To Arrest Of Hackensack Ex-Con In Sex Assault
He was carrying cocaine and heroin, they said.
Banks was taken to police headquarters, where he "confessed while being interviewed by detectives," Capt. Timothy Lloyd told Daily Voice Thursday night.
Bergen County Prosecutor John L. Molinelli said the assailant pulled a gun on the 22-year-old victim while she was waiting for a friend on Poplar Avenue.
Law enforcement sources told Daily Voice after the assault that he forced her to pull down her pants, then digitally penetrated her and made her use her cellphone to illuminate the contents of her purse.
He fled after spotting a feminine hygiene protect inside the bag, they said.
Banks, who Molinelli said worked as a car washer in Teaneck, was charged with aggravated sexual assault and robbery, as well as with drug and weapons offenses.
A Jan. 6 arraignment was scheduled.
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