An ex-con who sprinted and lunged at an NBC news reporter during live coverage of Hurricane Ida from the Mississippi coast was arrested in Ohio by United States Marshals on Thursday.
Benjamin Eugene Dagley, 54, was tracked to the Dayton area and handcuffed as he exited a store, federal officials said.
Dagley was driving the same white pickup truck he was seen jumping out of in the now notorious video before he lunged at NBC's Shaquille Brewster as he covered the storm from a beach in Gulfport, Mississippi, on Monday.
Brewster was updating residents about the aftermath of the hurricane when Dagley could be seen running up behind the reporter, shouting and lunging at him before the footage cuts away.
'This violent fugitive was attempting to flee from his charges in Gulfport,' United States Marshal Pete Elliot told Cleveland 19, 'but the swift work of our task force members resulted in a timely arrest.'
Dagley is facing two charges of assault, as well as charges for disturbing the peace and violating an emergency curfew in the aftermath of the Category 4 hurricane.
Benjamin Eugene Dagley, of Ohio, was tracked to the Dayton area on Thursday and was arrested in connection with an assault on an NBC reporter trying to cover the aftermath of Hurricane Ida
Footage of the incident shows NBC reporter Shaquille Brewster covering the aftermath of Ida, which had come ashore as a Category 4 hurricane the previous night, when a man, who was identified by police as Dagley, parked his pickup truck and began sprinting at him
Dagley runs up to the crew shouting, 'Y'all reporting this accurately right?' as Brewster has his crew shift the camera away from the man
Dagley, however, continues to shout and the segment ends just as he lunges towards Brewster, shouting, 'Report accurately!'
Chicago 19 News reports that the United States Marshals arrested Dagley on Thursday
After the incident on Monday, Gulfport police were called to investigate the alleged assault, and in a release sought the public's help in finding Dagley, whom they discovered is currently on probation for previous charges in Cuyahoga County, Ohio.
Dagley was arrested in 2017 for drilling holes into storage tanks at an electroplating company he once owned, according to Cuyahoga County court records and previous news reports,
Among the conditions of his probation, authorities said, was a restriction on travel.
The incident sent a security guard to the hospital after he was exposed to the toxic chemicals, according to Cleveland.com, and in 2018 he pleaded guilty to felonious assault, inducing panic and vandalism related to the incident.
Court records show his case was reopened for a possible parole violation on Thursday, and on Tuesday Cuyahoga County called on the local sheriff's office to issue a warrant for Dagley's arrest.
Brewster tweet shortly after that he and his crew were unharmed in the incident
Footage of Dagley interrupting the broadcast was shared widely on social media, and shows him pulling up in his white Ford F150 behind Brewster, getting out and sprinting towards him.
Brewster was reporting on how life had begun to return to normal that morning in the areas around where the storm made impact just hours prior.
'Just a couple of minutes ago people were walking their dogs. They're back on the beach right now. That's the sense you're getting,' he says as the man approaches from behind.
'The rain has stopped, the wind is still going there, and I think we have a random person going around.'
Police were seeking the public's help tracking down Dagley, and shared a photo of his pickup truck
Dagley can be heard shouting at the reporter and his camera crew as he approaches, saying: 'Y'all reporting this accurately right?'
Brewster attempted to continue the segment, asking the crew to turn the camera away from Dagley as he shifted his position away from him.
Dagley, however, continued shouting, and Brewster eventually told anchor Craig Melvin that he will need to cut the broadcast short.
'Craig I'm gonna toss it back to you, because we have a person who needs a little help right now,' he says as Dagley lunges at him, shouting, 'report accurately!'
The broadcast cut away just as Brewster raised his forearm to defend himself.
Gulfport police had sought the public's help identifying Dagley after the incident, and they reported in a release that he may have also violated his parole in Ohio by traveling to Mississippi
'Hey, hey, hey,' Melvin says.
'We're going to check in with Shaq Brewster just to make sure all is well. There's a lot of crazy out there, a lot of crazy.'
Moments after, Brewster tweeted out that he and his crew were alright.
'Appreciate the concern guys. The team and I are all good!' he wrote.
MSNBC President Rashida Jones released a statement regarding the incident, calling Brewster a 'consummate professional.'
'Like the consummate professional, he did not let someone intimidate him from doing his job. We're glad he and the team are safe, and we couldn't be more proud and supportive of their work,' she said.
