Man accused of breaking into WWE star's home to take her hostage will face a Hillsborough judge Monday

LUTZ, Fla. - A 24-year old South Carolina man wore a green anti-suicide vest as he faced a Tampa judge Monday afternoon.

Phillip A. Thomas, II is accused of traveling to Hillsborough County to kidnap Daria Berenato, also known as WWE superstar Sonya Deville, who was in court for her attacker’s first appearance.

• Judge Catherine Catlin: Ma’am, you're the alleged victim?
• Deville: Yes
• Judge Catlin: What’s your name?
• Deville: Daria Berenato
• Judge Catlin: Ma’am, he has a pretrial detention hearing in five days. If I set that on Thursday at 4:30, are you available?
• Deville: Yes, ma’am.

Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office investigators say Thomas had been planning it for months.

Photos: Getty Images / HCSO

And for the past five years, they say Thomas has harbored an obsession with Deville, often retweeting her and expressing his desire to be her boyfriend.

But prosecutors say that obsession turned into a plan that he tried to carry out Sunday.

They say Thomas parked his car at the Idle Wild church and walked to Deville's Lutz home, where he cut a hole in the patio screen quietly waited for hours until Deville went to bed.

At around 3 a.m., Thomas made his move. Investigators say he opened the sliding glass door, but that tripped her alarm.

Court documents describe Deville and her guest seeing Thomas with a knife in one hand and mace in the other. They ran from the house and called 911.

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HCSO photo

Detectives say Thomas was still in the home when deputies arrived. They found him armed with a knife, as well as zip ties, duct tape, and mace.

Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Natalia Verdina said, "he did tell our deputies that he planned to hold the homeowner hostage. Just horrifying to think what he was planning to do."

Documents also say Thomas told detectives how he planned to carry out the kidnapping.

"By spraying Deville with pepper spray, binding her hands with zip ties, and wrapping her arms with duct tape to prevent her from fighting back."

Detectives say Thomas wanted to prevent her from attending an event next week. He also said he wanted Deville to answer his questions, but the contents of his queries were not specified.

Thomas is back in court on Thursday for a bond hearing. He faces several felony charges that include, kidnapping, aggravated stalking, armed burglary.

If convicted, he faces life in prison.