A South Carolina man was arrested early Sunday in Lutz, Florida, for attempting to kidnap a local homeowner he had stalked on social media, according to the Tampa Bay Times’ Kavitha Surana.
While the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office did not identify the victim, the scene of the arrest was presumably a house owned by Daria Berenato, better known by her WWE moniker, Sonya Deville.
The man, 24-year-old Phillip A. Thomas II, had planned the abduction after eight months.
Burglar found with zip ties, duct tape, knife
According to the sheriff’s office, Thomas parked his car at a nearby church at midnight and ran into the house, where he was waiting on the terrace while looking through the window of the house. At 2:43 a.m., the homeowner went to bed, at which point Thomas apparently entered the house through a sliding door and activated the alarm.
The homeowner then saw Thomas on the property, fled the scene with a guest and called 911.
Thomas was apparently still at home when deputies arrived. Per authorities, he carried, among other things, a knife, plastic zip ties, duct tape and mace, and told deputies that he intended to take the homeowner hostage.
Thomas is alleged to have been charged with aggravated stalking, armed burglary of a residence, attempted armed abduction and criminal misconduct. He is being held without bail.
From the Times:
“Our deputies are discovering the suspect’s restless obsession with this homeowner he has never met but stalked on social media for years,” Sheriff Chad Chronister said in the news release. “It’s horrible to think of all the ways this incident could have played out if the home alarm didn’t go off and alert the homeowner of a burglar.”
@ Phillip80400010
consists of repeated tweets and retweets about Deville and her career. His most recent activity was to retweet from WWE about Deville’s upcoming appearance on SummerSlam: “data-reactid =” 38 “> While Thomas had never met the homeowner, his Twitter account @ Phillip80400010 consists of repeated tweets and retweets about Deville and her career. His most recent activity was retweeting this from WWE about Deville’s upcoming appearance on SummerSlam:The 26-year-old Deville is the first openly gay female wrestler in WWE history, and is currently starring in the company ‘Real Divas’ reality show.
