Marshals arrest Ohio man wanted in assault of MSNBC reporter on MS Coast during Ida
U.S. Marshals on Thursday arrested an Ohio man accused of assaulting an NBC and MSNBC correspondent shooting a live segment from the beach in Gulfport during Hurricane Ida.
U.S. Marshal Pete Elliot and Wayne County Sheriff Travis Hutchinson announced the arrest of Benjamin Eugene Dagley, 54, of Wooster, Ohio.
In Gulfport, Dagley is facing arrest on two counts of assault and one count each of disturbing the peace and violation of a emergency curfew order.
Marshals arrested Dagley outside a shopping plaza on Greene Boulevard in Dayton, Ohio, after receiving tips about his possible whereabouts. He was till driving a white truck he was seen in on camera during the assault.
Dagley is also being held on a probation violation from Cuyahoga County Sheriff’s Department.
Dagley is accused in Gulfport of assaulting news correspondent Shaquille Brewster while he was filming on the Gulfport beach.
“Due to assistance provided by the Wayne County Sheriff’s Office, our task force members were able to track this fugitive from Mississippi to his arrest location in Dayton,” Page said. “This violent fugitive was attempting to flee from his charges in Gulfport but the swift work of our task force members resulted in a timely arrest.”
The MS Coast assault
Gulfport police responded to report of the assault on the the news correspondent early Monday afternoon. Police got a description of Dagley’s white pickup truck that was captured in camera footage when he jumped from a white Ford F-150 pickup, running down the beach to yell at the reporter.
Brewster moved away from Dagley, but the video showed Dagley continued to follow the correspondent and got near his face.
Video of assault was shared on social media and by national news outlets. The assault also was captured on NBC News before Brewster cut his live feed short.
Dagley had a history of prior arrests, according to cleveland.com, for allegedly breaking into an electroplating company and reportedly drilled holes into tanks that held dangerous chemicals.
Gulfport police sought tips
The public helped Gulfport police in identifying Dagley as the suspect prior to his arrest. Police then asked for the public’s help to find him.
An arrest warrant for Dagley was issued Tuesday in Gulfport.
In a prior criminal case in Ohio, Dagley had been placed on five years’ probation in 2018 and ordered to complete an anger-management program, according to Cuyahoga County court dockets.
This story was originally published September 2, 2021 at 3:58 PM.
