Man charged with stalking for allegedly threatening WNBA star Caitlin Clark
A Texas man has been charged with stalking for allegedly sending WNBA star Caitlin Clark threats over social media, officials said Monday.
Michael Lewis, 55, was arrested on Sunday in Indianapolis and has been charged with stalking for allegedly sending "numerous threats and sexually explicit messages to Clark via his social media accounts," the Marion County Prosecutor's Office said in a press release.
"No matter how prominent a figure you are, this case shows that online harassment can quickly escalate to actual threats of physical violence," Marion County Prosecutor Ryan Mears said in a statement.
Clark, a phenom at the University of Iowa, won rookie of the year honors in 2024 in her first season with the WNBA's Indiana Fever. The women's NCAA championship game featuring Iowa and South Carolina was the most-watched basketball game of 2024, dwarfing even the ratings for the NBA Finals.
The Marion County Sheriff’s Office became aware of a "possible pattern of stalking" by Lewis toward Clark this month, according to the affidavit for probable cause. Between Dec. 16, 2024, and Jan. 2, the suspect allegedly sent Clark numerous sexually explicit messages over X, according to the affidavit.
Investigators traced the X account to Lewis and determined that recent messages to Clark were sent from an IP address at a hotel in Indianapolis, which was "especially concerning given that he is a Texas resident," the affidavit stated.
Indianapolis police officers conducted a welfare check on Lewis, of Denton, Texas, at his hotel room in Indianapolis on Jan. 8, during which they confronted him about the threatening posts, according to the affidavit.
"When asked why he was making so many posts about Caitlin Clark, Lewis said, 'just the same reason everybody makes posts,'" the affidavit said. "When asked about posts that were threatening in nature, Lewis said it wasn’t him. Lewis claimed that this is just an imaginary relationship."
Lewis, who claimed to be in the city on vacation, told officers the posts were a "joke" and "fantasy type thing," and denied that they were threatening, according to the affidavit.
Officers told Lewis to stop making such posts, though he continued to post on X to Clark in the days after police contacted him, according to the affidavit.
During an interview with the sheriff's department on Saturday, Clark told investigators she does not know Lewis and has not responded to his social media messages or posts, and that his presence in Indianapolis made her "very concerned for her safety," according to the affidavit.
"Clark stated that she has been very fearful since learning of the messages and that she has altered her public appearances and patterns of movement due to fear for her safety," the affidavit stated.
A no-contact order and order to stay away from Gainbridge Fieldhouse, where the Indiana Fever play, and Butler University's Hinkle Fieldhouse have been granted in the case, online court records show.
Lewis is being held in the Marion County detention center and is scheduled to appear in court on Tuesday. Online court records do not include any attorney information for Lewis.
The felony charge carries a sentencing range of one to six years and a fine of up to $10,000, the prosecutor's office said.
