In an update on Phillip Arnold Thomas II, who was arrested inside the home of WWE superstar Sonya Deville (real name Daria Berenato) over the weekend, Thomas will be going before the court tomorrow at 4:30pm Eastern for a pre-trial detention hearing to determine whether he should be held without bail or if he should be allowed to post bond and be allowed out of the jail, while he waits for his case to go to trial.

The District Attorney’s office filed the following motion on Monday, asking the court to hold Thomas without bail:

COMES NOW, the state of Florida by and through the undersigned attorney, pursuant to Florida Statue 907.041, and Rule 3.132, to respectfully petition this Honorable Court to order Pretrial Detention and as grounds therefore would show:

There is substantial probability, based on the Defendant’s past and present patterns of behavior, the criteria set forth in Florida Statue 903.046, and other relevant facts that Pretrial Detention is needed:

1. The Defendant is presently charged with dangerous crimes within the meaning of Florida Statute 907.041(4), to wit: Aggravated Stalking, Armed Burglary of a Dwelling, and Attempted Armed Kidnapping.

2. The basis for the these charges is as follows: On August 16, 2020, the defendant drove nearby to the residence of victim Daria Berenato and Amanda Sacomanno, a residential house with a roof over it, in Hillsborough County, Florida, parked at a local church, and walked approximately a third of a mile to the victim’s residence, at or about 0243 hours. He approached a patio screen at the residence and cut a hole in the patio screen with a knife and entered the lanai, in possession of plastic zip ties, duct tape, pepper spray (mace), window punches, and other items. The defendant entered through an unsecured patio glass door. This caused the residential alarm to sound. Mrs. Berenato, alerted, went to the door and saw the defendant in the residence with a knife in his hand and the pepper spray in his other hand. Both victims fled the residence. The defendant remained in the residence, as he believed that the two were upstairs hiding, and he was waiting for them to come downstairs. The defendant was located in the residence and taken into custody. Victim Mrs. Berenato is a wrestler with a large online following. Due to her online settings, messages from non friends are sent to a folder, and are generally not read by Mrs. Berenato. Research of this folder and others developed multiple messages from the defendant, up to 5 years, in which the defendant expressed his desire to meet with the victim, expressed his obsession with the defendant, of a progressively more threatening manner. The defendant had attempted to contact Mrs. Berenato on multiple social media platforms over the course of years and had become increasingly more agitated when the victim did not respond. At least one of these messages was made while walking to the house, or the lanai or patio itself. Post Miranda, the defendant admitted traveling from South Carolina on August 15, 2020, walking to the residence while carrying a backpack with zip ties, duct tape, pepper spray, and window punches, extra clothes, and a condom. The defendant stated that he watched the victims from the lanai for a number of hours prior to entering the residence. The defendant admitted that his intention was to take Mrs. Berenato hostage, by spraying her pepper spray (mace), binding her hands with the zip ties, and wrapping duct tape around her arms to prevent her from fighting back. He stated that he intended to keep Mrs. Berenato hostage, preventing her from attending a planned event scheduled for the following week, and that he was not going to leave her residence without her answering all of his questions. The defendant was identified by his South Carolina Driver’s License.

3. Lesser forms of restraint other than restraint without bond will not suffice to protect either the victim or the safety of the public, given the defendants’ long term obsession with the victim, his anger as indicated in the messages, the lengths to which he planned and conducted an attempted kidnapping, including driving from South Carolina, and lying in wait at the victim’s residence.

For those who may be unfamiliar with the case, Thomas currently remains jailed at the Hillsborough County Jail in Florida, charged with aggravated stalking, armed burglary of a dwelling, attempted armed kidnapping and criminal mischief. He has been assigned a public defender and invoked his fifth amendment right to remain silent on Tuesday. Deville meanwhile has been awarded a temporary order of protection against Thomas and will be going to court on August 27th to gain a permanent order against him.

Authorities in Tampa stated that Thomas had been allegedly planning to kidnap Deville for months and that when they arrived at the home of Deville, Thomas was still in the home and was found to be carrying a knife, plastic zip ties, duct tape, mace and other items, telling deputies that he was planning to take the homeowner hostage. When Thomas arrived at the home of Deville, he hid outside on her porch for several hours, before making an attempt to enter the home, tripping the security alarm in the process. When Deville saw Thomas, she noted in her petition filed yesterday that she realized that he was not there with the intent to rob her, but was there with the intent to hurt her, noting that herself and fellow WWE superstar Mandy Rose (real name Amanda Saccomanno) fled the home, calling 911 in the process, leading to Thomas’ arrest inside the home. Deville noted in her petition that Thomas believed that she had ran up the stairs of her house, however that gave her and Rose enough time to escape.

Deville noted that after receiving Thomas’ name from authorities, she found numerous messages from him on her social media, noting that the messages were obsessive, suicidal and idolizing, while she believed that she discovered messages from a second account that included a warning that the person had found her home address, with that account making threats against her family members and friends, revealed by their names. That same account also sent Deville a message at 12:16am on the night of the break-in at her home stating that they were outside the house, by her pool and would kill the person inside the home with Deville.