WWE star's alleged stalker to remain jailed after judge denies bond
TAMPA, Fla. - In a Tampa courtroom Thursday, Daria Berenato recalled her terror the moment she came face-to-face with her accused stalker and barely got away.
"I saw this man in my house wearing a black mask and I screamed," Berenato said. "I don't know what I said, something like, 'What the [expletive] do you want?' I was terrified."
Berenato is known to millions of wrestling fans as WWE superstar Sonya Deville. But prosecutors say one fan, 24-year-old Phillip Thomas, became so obsessed, he drove from South Carolina to carry out a plot to kidnap Deville.
Prosecutors say he almost pulled it off, making his way into her home after apparently waiting outside and watching her for hours. They say he cut a hole in her patio screen but tripped the alarm when he opened the sliding door.
That gave Deville and her roommate just enough time to escape.
"We ran to the car but I kept yelling, 'The car won't start, the car won't start!' Then I realized I had my foot on the gas pedal and not the brake. I was freaking out," recalled an emotional Berenato.
Thomas' attorney asked a judge to let his client out on bond Thursday. But during a late evening hearing, prosecutors fought to keep Thomas in jail. They showed the judge surveillance video from inside the home as a figure dressed in black broke in.
Attorney Anthony Rickman, who is not connected to the case, said the images and details are chilling.
"That stalking has gone to the next level of derangement, of following, of committing criminal acts that put this victim in imminent fear of danger and potentially death," explained Rickman.
This close call now has Deville filing a restraining order in civil court, asking the judge to keep Thomas far away from her if he were to get out on bond.
In a written statement, Deville said Thomas sent her hundreds of on Instagram messages. Many were vulgar, but the most disturbing was the message sent while Thomas was allegedly lying in wait on her patio: "Look outside, baby, by your pool. I'm here."
Deville said he then threatened to kill her roommate.
Hillsborough Circuit Judge Catherine Catlin did not want to risk it. She denied bond for Thomas, which means he will stay in jail while awaiting trial.
He faces armed kidnapping, aggravated stalking and armed burglary charges.