Ohio man wanted for assaulting reporter during live Hurricane Ida report arrested at The Greene

BEAVERCREEK — A northern Ohio man wanted for attacking a reporter during a live Hurricane Ida report in Mississippi was arrested at The Greene in Beavercreek Thursday, according to the U.S. Marshal Service.

>>PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Ohio man accused of assaulting reporter during live coverage of Ida in Mississippi

Benjamin E. Dagley, 54, of Wooster, Ohio, was booked into the Montgomery County Jail Thursday afternoon, according to online jail records.

U.S. Marshals received information Dagley was at a shopping center in the Dayton-area, still driving the white pickup truck with Ohio license plate he was last seen driving after the alleged assault, a spokesperson for the U.S. Marshals said in a media release.

“Task force members located the truck in the parking lot and subsequently arrested him after watching him exit a store in the shopping plaza,” the spokesperson said.

Dagley had warrants for his arrest from Gulfport, Mississippi, charged with two counts of simple assault, one count of disturbance of the peace, and one count of violation of an emergency curfew. He also had a warrant for his arrest from Cuyahoga County for a probation violation, the U.S. Marshals spokesperson said.

“Due to assistance provided by the Wayne County (Ohio) Sheriff’s Office, our task force members were able to track this fugitive from Mississippi to his arrest location in Dayton. 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,” U.S. Marshal Pete Elliott said in the release.

Around 12:40 p.m. Monday, officers responded to a report that an NBC News reporter had been assaulted by a man traveling in a white Ford F-150 truck as the city was under a curfew due to Hurricane Ida.

Video of the incident shows Shaquille Brewster reporting live for MSNBC as a white truck pulls into the sand behind him. A man, identified as Dagley, gets out of the truck and jogs toward Brewster before beginning to yell about reporting the storm accurately.

Brewster shifts positions and continues his live report before the man’s shouts get louder, prompting him to toss it back to the studio. Before Brewster’s live shot ended, Dagley could be seen physically confronting him.

This is a developing story and we’ll update this page as we learn more.

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