During her appearance on the latest episode of Ariel Helwani Show, former WWE Superstar Sonya Deville revealed that Vince McMahon rented a house for her and hired security 24/7 to protect her, following the attempting kidnapping in 2020.
In August 2020, Philip A. Thomas II attempted to kidnap Deville (real name Daria Berenato). He entered her home with a knife, zip ties and duct tape. Police noted in their report that he had parked his parked his car at the nearby Idlewild Baptist Church and walked to Deville’s home and had cut a hole in the patio screen and waited there for three to four hours, as he watched and listened through the window. Thomas then opened the sliding door, activating the security system. Deville and her guest at the time, former NXT Superstar Mandy Rose escaped and called 911.
Thomas was sentenced to 15 years in jail, with 15 years of probation, after the judge accepted a plea agreement in which the defendant pleaded guilty to the charges of attempted kidnapping, aggravated stalking, and armed burglary.
“WWE sent security to meet me there to go in the house and get my stuff out. They got us a hotel in downtown Tampa. I was so paranoid. I thought the hotel couldn’t be in my name because the whole concern was he was going to get out on bail and they weren’t going to grant a permit restraining order. The people at Tampa Police who were communicating with me were like, ‘He’s going to get some kind of bail. I don’t know if he going to be able to make it, but he’s going to get some kind of bail.’ I was freaking out. He’s going to be loose tonight and come right back after me. The cops made it clear, and in the interrogation he made it clear he’s not done with me, and when he gets free he will come back after me. I was freaked out. I put the hotel name under an alias. Me and Mandy [Rose] are in a hotel room together, scared shitless, we dragged the dresser in front of the hotel room door…I’m talking to Vince. SummerSlam is coming up and he’s checking in on me. He said, ‘Why don’t you come to the venue? I want to say hi and hug you.’ We drove to the venue, saw him, Hunter [Triple H] and Stephanie [McMahon] were there. He’s like, ‘What do you need from me?’ ‘I don’t know.’ ‘Are you going to be okay staying back at your house?’ ‘No, I don’t think I can go back there.’ I left on my ADT camera and there were reporters all over my front door step. ‘I can’t do this. It’s okay. I’ll figure it out.’ Vince is like, ‘No, what do you want to do? Do you need a place to stay?’ ‘I don’t know. My dad is coming down tomorrow and we’ll try to figure something out.’ ‘Alright, we’ll get you a place to stay if you need a place to stay.’ Vince rented a house for me to stay in, in a different part of Florida. My mom came to stay with me. Mandy stayed with me a little. Mandy’s mom came and stayed, and hired 24/7 armed security. These guys had guns on their hips.“
The interview (watch below) with Deville begins at the 1 hr. and 42 min. mark of the video.