A 55-year-old man from Texas, Michael Lewis, has been arrested on a felony stalking charge in Indianapolis after allegedly sending threatening and sexually violent messages to WNBA star Caitlin Clark via social media. Court documents indicate that Lewis, who hails from Denton, Texas, was apprehended at an Indianapolis hotel and is facing a Level 5 felony charge.
Scheduled for a court appearance on Tuesday morning, Lewis could potentially face six years in prison and a fine of $10,000. Marion County Prosecutor Ryan Mears revealed that police first contacted Lewis on Wednesday regarding his alarming online messages to Clark, which spanned from December 16 to January 2.
In one troubling message, Lewis stated, “Been driving around your house 3x a day,” and indicated he was ignoring admonitions from police. Other messages expressed disturbing fantasies and an unhealthy obsession with Clark. Clark, who was named the WNBA rookie of the year, reported feeling unsafe due to Lewis’s messages, prompting her to alter her appearance in public. Importantly, she did not engage with any of his communication.
Prosecutors noted that Lewis’s posts caused Clark to feel terrorized and threatened, as they contained either implicit or explicit threats of sexual violence. The FBI tracked the IP addresses of the threatening messages to locations in Indianapolis, leading police to conduct a wellness check on Lewis. During this encounter, he claimed to be in an “imaginary relationship” with Clark and described his behavior as “a joke.”
Despite police warnings against posting threatening content, Lewis continued to send messages that alarmed Clark. Prosecutor Mears commended Clark for her courage in coming forward, stating that it sets an important precedent for other women facing similar threats. “Women deserve to live and work in Indy without fear of sexual violence,” he emphasized.
Additionally, prosecutors have sought to ban Lewis from attending events at Hinkle Fieldhouse and Gainbridge Fieldhouse, where the Indiana Fever play their games. This incident echoes a previous case in December where a man was sentenced to probation for stalking another prominent basketball player.
This case highlights the critical issue of personal safety and underscores the importance of coming forward to report threats, as well as the community’s responsibility to ensure a safe environment for all individuals, especially women in public life.