WWE star Sonya Deville thankfully escaped what could have been a very horrific incident at her Florida home over the weekend.
Deville co-stars in the E! reality show Total Divas.
Alleged cyber stalker, Phillip Thomas, an Applebee’s employee from South Carolina, broke into Deville’s house.
Deville and a houseguest were home at the time.
An alarm sounded to notify them of the break-in, but Thomas had initiated his creepy plan hours before the alarm went off.
In fact, between 3 and 4 hours before the alarm went off, Thomas cut a hole in the patio screen.
He then listened and looked through the windows, waiting for Deville and the houseguest to go to bed for the night.
That’s when he broke in and tripped the alarm.
They escaped the home and called police.
When police arrived on the scene, they found Thomas in Deville’s house.
He had a knife, duct tape, plastic zip ties, and mace in his possession when deputies approached him.
Deville expressed her gratitude to all the well-wishers and the police for their quick response.
Thank you everyone for your love and concern. A very frightening experience but thankfully everyone is safe. A special thank you to Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office for their response and assistance. 🖤
— Daddy Deville (@SonyaDevilleWWE) August 17, 2020
Not An Ordinary Break-in
This was not a spur-of-the-moment break-in with the intention to rob someone.
Thomas followed Deville online.
He reportedly had been planning this for at least 8 months.
Thomas traveled down from South Carolina multiple times and parked near Deville’s home at a Church while he plotted his next move.
Phillip Thomas allegedly told police he intended to take Deville hostage.
He repeatedly retweeted Deville’s Tweets regarding her upcoming Summer Slam matchup with Mandy Rose scheduled for August 23.
I hope your not done too, I love watching @SonyaDevilleWWE kick your ass 🤣😎🤷🏻♂️
— Phillip Thomas (@Phillip80400010) August 10, 2020
Thomas is one of Deville’s 382,000 Twitter followers.
Stalking Celebrities Is Not New.
1980’s
Sadly, people have been stalking celebrities for years.
And unfortunately it does not end as well as Deville’s recent scare.
Think back to 1980 when Mark David Chapman shot and killed John Lennon at his New York apartment building.
He shot Lennon 4 times.
Chapman didn’t even flee the scene after the murder; he was arrested on site reading The Catcher in the Rye.
1990’s
Fast forward to the 1990’s when the paparazzi followed Princess Diana of Wales everywhere she went.
Some would say their overbearing obsession with her every movement caused her death in that fateful traffic accident in France in 1997.
2000’s
Singer Christina Grimmie was killed by a fan after she performed a concert in Orlando in 2016.
Grimmie was signing autographs and attempted to hug the fan/her murderer Kevin James Loibl.
He pulled out a gun, shot her, and turned it on himself.
She was a YouTube personality and an up-and-coming singer that made the finals on the TV show The Voice.
Her murder happened in Florida on the same weekend as the Pulse nightclub massacre so it was somewhat overshadowed by that tragedy.
In most instances, the stalker has mental issues.
The advent of social media makes celebrities more relatable.
They talk directly to their fans, some on a daily basis.
Fans can follow the celebrities without being noticed.
They can inconspicuously learn details about the celebrities and plan unthinkable atrocities to hurt them.
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