Suspect arrested after former Sen. Martha McSally reports being assaulted while running

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(NEW YORK) — A suspect has been arrested on an assault charge after former Arizona Sen. Martha McSally said she was attacked while on a run in Iowa this week.

McSally was running along the Missouri River in Council Bluffs on Wednesday when a man “came up behind me and he engulfed me in a bear hug,” she said in a video posted on Instagram.

“He molested and fondled me until I fought him off,” she said.

McSally said she then chased her assailant and called 911 as he hid in a brush but he managed to flee.

Authorities identified a suspect in the incident as 25-year-old Dominic Henton, of Papillion, Nebraska, in part based on surveillance video, the Council Bluffs Police Department said. An arrest warrant was issued Thursday charging him with one count of assault with intent to commit sexual abuse, police said.

Henton was taken into custody by the Omaha Police Department around 3:20 a.m. local time on Friday, Council Bluffs police said.

Omaha police initially responded to his home on Thursday after Henton made a welfare call, according to Council Bluffs Police Sgt. Ted Roberts. Omaha officers were unaware of the arrest warrant in Council Bluffs at the time, since it had not been fully processed, and took Henton to the hospital, he said.

Henton was later released from the hospital and called Omaha police again, by which time officers had the arrest warrant and took him to jail, Roberts said.

ABC News’ Alexandra Faul contributed to this report.

 

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