Illinois man charged with sexual assault after taking bank employee hostage

Jan. 4 (UPI) -- An Illinois man arrested after holding a woman hostage at an Illinois credit union faced charges of armed robbery, two counts of aggravated criminal sexual assault and aggravated unlawful restraint, police said Saturday.

Nicholas August, 39, of Rockford, Ill., was held on a $2 million bond at a Winnebago County jail on charges related to the Friday incident and two other outstanding warrants.

On Friday 911 dispatchers received a call reporting an armed robbery in progress at the Heritage Credit Union in Rockfod, which is about 90 miles outside of Chicago.

Crisis negotiators from the local police department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation spent the next six hours in contact with August while SWAT teams secured the perimeter.

At 9 p.m., August left the building with a woman. Police said he took her hostage before ordering others to leave.

According to police, authorities learned during the standoff that August had sexually assaulted his hostage.

There was no evidence that August had met his victim, an employee of the bank, before the incident Friday.

The woman was taken to a local hospital with non-life-threatening injuries before speaking with detectives.