U.S. Marshals Arrest Ohio Man Who Accosted NBC Reporter During Hurricane Coverage

An Ohio man who was filmed accosting an MSNBC reporter covering Hurricane Ida in Gulfport, Mississippi, was arrested by U.S. Marshals on Thursday. 

Benjamin Dagley, 54, of Wooster, was taken into custody outside of a shopping plaza in Dayton, Ohio, according to a department release.

On Monday, Dagley was filmed exiting a white truck and shouting in the face of MSNBC reporter Shaquille Brewster while Brewster was doing a live weather report about the hurricane. Investigators tracked Dagley down after receiving information that he was still driving the same vehicle.

Officials noticed the truck in the parking lot of the shopping plaza and arrested Dagley after watching him exit a store.

“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,” U.S. Marshal Pete Elliott said in the release. “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 Gulfport Police Department has already charged Dagley with two counts of assault, one count of disturbance of the peace and one count of violation of emergency curfew for the attack on Brewster, which went viral.

In addition, the Cuyahoga County Sheriff’s Department has charged Dagley with a probation violation linked to a 2017 incident in which he drilled holes into tanks of dangerous chemicals, including hydrochloric acid, and nearly caused an “environmental disaster” in Ohio, according to WLBT TV. A security guard had to be hospitalized as a result of those actions.

On Monday, the video of Dagley pulling up on a Gulfport beach while Brewster was reporting live went viral.

The footage shows Dagley shouting in Brewster’s face about reporting the news “accurately.” Brewster calmly moved away from Dagley, who kept yelling at him and the camera operator.

Brewster later tweeted that he and his team were “all good” after the disturbing incident.