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WWE's Sonya Deville Arrested in February After Possessing Gun Without Valid Permit
March 1, 2023
WWE Superstar Sonya Deville was arrested last month in Atlantic City, New Jersey, for carrying a firearm in her vehicle without a permit.
According to TMZ Sports, court documents show that a valet contacted police on Feb. 19 when they found a gun in the glove box of Deville's car. Deville was then arrested when it was determined that she did not have the proper permit to carry a gun in New Jersey.
Deville was charged with one count of unlawful weapon possession of a handgun without permit, and she is scheduled to appear in court this month.
The 29-year-old Deville is originally from New Jersey, but now lives in Florida, and the gun was reportedly registered in the state of Florida.
Per Fightful's Sean Ross Sapp, Deville was in Atlantic City to celebrate getting engaged to her girlfriend.
Sources told TMZ that Deville purchased a firearm for protection after a man broke into her Florida home in 2020. Police said the man was in possession of a knife, zip ties and duct tape, and allegedly planned to kidnap Deville before he was thwarted by Deville's security alarm and ultimately arrested.
According to Sapp, Deville isn't believed to be facing any discipline from WWE after the arrest because the promotion understands her reasoning for purchasing and carrying a gun.
Sapp added that Deville is working on getting the charge against her in New Jersey thrown out.
Deville is a former MMA fighter who signed with WWE in 2015 after competing on the sixth season of the reality show Tough Enough.
She spent about two years in NXT before getting called up to the main roster as part of a stable known as Absolution, alongside Paige and Mandy Rose. Deville and Rose eventually split off and competed as a tag team for multiple years.
Deville also had a role as an on-screen authority figure on Raw and SmackDown from 2021 to 2022, and she has primarily returned to in-ring competition for the past year.