DAYTON, Ohio — A Wooster man wanted for disrupting the live shot of an MSNBC correspondent who was reporting on Hurricane Ida in Gulfport, Mississippi was arrested by U.S. Marshals in Dayton on Thursday.
Authorities say it was Benjamin Eugene Dagley, 54, who confronted reporter Shaquille Brewser and his crew while he was reporting live from a beach in Gulfport at about 12:38 p.m.
Things got very hairy for NBC News reporter Shaquille Brewster during a live Hurricane Ida report from Gulfport, MS.
— Justin Baragona (@justinbaragona) August 30, 2021
Some guy jumps out of a pickup truck and angrily confronts Brewster's crew, prompting a shaken Craig Melvin to express extreme concern for his colleague. pic.twitter.com/v1tYnUsqTj
Video of the incident shows Brewster reporting on the aftermath of the storm when a man in a white Ford pickup truck stops nearby, gets out, and walks towards him, yelling.
Brewster stepped out of the man's way, but the man confronted him again and yelled in his face. The altercation continued for a moment before the newscast cut back to the anchor desk.
After the incident, Brewster tweeted that he was safe.
Appreciate the concern guys. The team and I are all good!
— Shaquille Brewster (@shaqbrewster) August 30, 2021
Gulfport issued a warrant for Dagley's arrest on Tuesday. Police said that when they reviewed Dagley's prior criminal history, they were alerted to a possible probation violation out of Cuyahoga County.
According to Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas records, Dagley was on probation for a prior offense and didn't have permission to leave the state when the incident at the beach occurred. In addition to the arrest warrant issued by Gulfport police, a warrant was also issued by authorities in Cuyahoga County for violating probation.
On Thursday afternoon, members of the US Marshals' violent fugitive task force arrested Dagley in a shopping plaza on Greene Boulevard in Dayton, according to a news release from the US Marshals Office. Task force members received information that Dagley was still driving the white truck he was seen getting out of in the MSNBC video.
Task force members found the truck and arrested Dagley after watching him exit a store in the shopping plaza, the release states.
“Due to the 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,” said U.S. Marshal Pete Elliott. “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.”
Dagley was charged by Gulfport police with two counts of assault, one count of disturbance of the peace and one count of violation of emergency curfew. He was also wanted by the Cuyahoga County Sheriff’s Department for a probation violation.
RELATED: Wooster man wanted for allegedly assaulting reporter on live TV in Mississippi
Download the News 5 Cleveland app now for more stories from us, plus alerts on major news, the latest weather forecast, traffic information and much more. Download now on your Apple device here, and your Android device here.
You can also catch News 5 Cleveland on Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, YouTube TV, DIRECTV NOW, Hulu Live and more. We're also on Amazon Alexa devices. Learn more about our streaming options here.
