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A 27-year-old victim had told city police she was accosted near the corner of Market and East 22nd streets around 6 a.m. April. 20 by an armed man who forced her to a remote area near train tracks, took her valuables, then fondled her before fleeing.
Three days later, a 28-year-old woman reported a similar incident occurring in the same area shortly after 5 a.m.
City police identified Diquan A. West, 32, as the assailant and took him into custody last Monday, April 29, authorities announced on May 6.
Passaic County Prosecutor Camelia M. Valdes and Paterson Police Officer-In-Charge Isa Abbassi, who issued the joint announcement, didn’t say why they waited a week to notify an anxious public of the arrest.
West, a convicted burglar, has remained held in the Bergen County Jail after a judge denied his release. Another hearing is scheduled in Superior Court in Paterson on Wednesday, May 8.
West is charged with multiple counts of kidnapping, aggravated criminal sexual contact, robbery and weapons offenses, including possessing a firearm as a convicted felon.
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