Acting Essex County Prosecutor Theodore N. Stephens II announced today that Mr. Austin Be-Kwao, 23, of Newark has been charged with robbing, carjacking, and sexually assaulting a 55-year-old Newark woman.
Police said in July of 2019, the victim told police she was driving home from church and stopped to use an ATM on the 1000 block of Bergen Street in Newark when an unknown individual wearing a mask accosted her at gunpoint and demanded cash.
According to police, he then allegedly ordered her back into the car and forced her at gunpoint to a second location, where it is alleged, he sexually assaulted her in the rear of the vehicle.
According to Assistant Prosecutor Jeffrey Conrad, who is handling the case, investigators with the Newark Police Department and the Essex County Prosecutor's Office obtained DNA evidence from the sexual assault which was found to be consistent with Be-Kwao.
The defendant is currently being held in Union County Jail.