Authorities in Nebraska arrested a 25-year-old suspect early on Friday two days after former senator Martha McSally of Arizona reported being sexually assaulted while she jogged along the Missouri River in Council Bluffs, Iowa.
The Council Bluffs Police Department said in a statement on Nov. 10 that Dominic Henton of Papillion, Nebraska, was taken into custody by police officers in Omaha, Nebraska.
Mr. Henton had an arrest warrant issued for one count of assault with intent to commit sexual abuse, the department said on Nov. 9, adding the suspect is awaiting extradition proceedings back to Council Bluffs.
Police described Mr. Henton as a “stocky build” man who is believed to be a transient who frequents the riverfront area on both the Iowa and Nebraska sides. Omaha and Council Bluffs are separated by the Missouri River.
In stills from surveillance footage released by Council Bluffs police, Mr. Henton is seen following Ms. McSally over a pedestrian bridge at Ton Hanafan River’s Edge Park in Iowa and then southbound onto a trial.
“McSally fought off the attacker and chased him into a dense area of brush near the I-480 bridge,” according to a police statement. She eventually lost sight of the suspect prior to police arriving, but authorities said video surveillance and other investigative work led them to the suspect.
‘You Picked the Wrong Target’
Ms. McSally, who served in the U.S. Air Force from 1988 until 2010 and rose to the rank of colonel before entering politics, detailed the assault in a video posted on social media on the day of the attack.
The former lawmaker opened up about the ordeal prior to delivering a speech about “courage” and “how to be a brave heart” at an event in Omaha on Nov. 8.
“I just had it put to the test. I realize I’m still in an adrenaline state,” Ms. McSally said. “A man came up behind me, and he engulfed me in a bear hug, and he molested and fondled me until I fought him off.”
“In this moment, I was in a fight-flight-or-freeze, and I chose to fight,” she added. “I ran after him, I threw my water bottle at him, and I chased him into the brush, where he was then hiding as I called 911 and waited for the police to come.”
“I am OK right now, in part because of that, it could have been much worse. I still have a lot to process and I will do that in time, but I am committed to ensuring that I settle myself down neurologically and I process this through in a very healthy way.”
‘I Took My Power Back’
Ms. McSally, the first female fighter pilot to fly in combat, disclosed during a 2019 U.S. Senate hearing on sexual assault in the military that she had been raped by a superior officer during her time in the U.S. Air Force.
“I was horrified at how my attempt to share generally my experiences was handled,” Ms. McSally told the hearing. “Like many victims, I felt like the system was raping me all over again.”
Although the 58-year-old didn’t report that assault incident at the time because she didn’t trust the judicial system, Ms. McSally pointed out that the Nov. 8 ordeal felt like it “took my power back.”
“I know it’s tapped into a nerve of other sexual abuse and assault that I’ve been through in the past—which I’ve healed from as much as I feel can be done, but in this case, I felt like I took my power back,” she said. “He tried to take power from me, but I turned it on him and he was running from me instead of the other way around.”
Ms. McSally served two terms in the House before narrowly losing a bid to represent Arizona in the Senate against then-Democrat Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.), who announced last year that she was leaving the Democrat Party to become an independent, blaming partisanship on both sides for her decision.
In 2018, she was appointed to replace longtime Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) after his death.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
