Suspect arrested for alleged assault of former Arizona Sen. Martha McSally, police say

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (3TV/CBS 5/Gray News) - Police said the suspect accused of assaulting a former U.S. senator from Arizona is in custody.

Late Thursday night, the Council Bluffs Police Department announced a warrant was issued for 25-year-old Dominic M. Henton in connection with the reported assault of Martha McSally while she was on a run along the Missouri River in Iowa.

On Friday morning, Douglas County Department of Corrections online records show he was booked into jail in Omaha, Nebraska, around 4:30 a.m. CST.

Photos released by authorities show Henton as he followed McSally over a pedestrian bridge and then onto a trail. McSally is seen walking in front of Henton, and other photos show him in the area following the assault. Police said Henton is believed to be homeless.

On Wednesday, police say McSally was assaulted as she was jogging at Tom Hanafan River’s Edge Park in Council Bluffs, Iowa. She reportedly fought Henton and chased him down before losing sight of him.

Henton could face one charge of assault with intent to commit sexual abuse.

McSally took to Instagram to describe the attack, stating the suspect put her in a bear hug before assaulting her. McSally was in Omaha for a speaking engagement.

McSally, the first woman to fly a fighter plane in combat, said in the video that she was OK, but that the assault “tapped into a nerve of other sexual abuse and assault that I’ve been through in the past.”

She disclosed during a 2019 Senate hearing on sexual assault in the military that she had been raped by a superior officer in the Air Force. She didn’t report that assault at the time because she didn’t trust the system, but she said Wednesday: “I took my power back. 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.”

McSally served in the Air Force from 1988 until 2010 and rose to the rank of colonel before entering politics. She served two terms in the House before narrowly losing a bid to represent Arizona in the Senate against Democrat Kyrsten Sinema.

In 2018 she was appointed to replace longtime GOP Sen. John McCain after his death. She failed in her election bid in 2020.

Copyright 2023 KPHO via Gray Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.