A 55-year-old man from Texas has been formally charged with felony stalking of Caitlin Clark, the standout rookie for the Indiana Fever and recognized as the WNBA’s Rookie of the Year.
Michael Thomas Lewis allegedly engaged in persistent harassment towards the 22-year-old Clark, which reportedly began on December 16, according to a filing from the Marion County prosecutor’s office submitted on Saturday. Jail records indicate that Lewis is scheduled to appear in court on Tuesday.
The allegations state that Lewis made a significant number of posts on Clark’s account on X.
In one instance, he claimed to have driven past the Gainbridge Fieldhouse — the Fever’s home venue — multiple times a day. In another message, he mentioned being “one foot on a banana peel and the other on a stalking charge.” Additionally, some messages contained sexually explicit content.
Prosecutors stated in their filing to the Marion County Superior Court that these communications “actually caused Caitlin Clark to feel terrorized, frightened, intimidated, or threatened.” They emphasized that Lewis made implicit or explicit threats designed to instill a reasonable fear of sexual battery in Clark.
The FBI was able to link the X account to Lewis and trace the messages to IP addresses corresponding to an Indianapolis hotel and a public library downtown.
On January 8, local police interacted with Lewis in his hotel room, where he claimed he was in Indianapolis for a vacation. When questioned about his numerous posts about Clark, he stated, “Just the same reason everybody makes posts,” as recorded in the court documents.
Lewis asserted to the authorities that he meant no harm and described his feelings as a fantasy of being in a relationship with Clark. “It’s an imagination, fantasy type thing and it’s a joke, and it’s nothing to do with threatening,” he explained to the police, according to the documents.
In their bid for a higher bond than usual, the prosecutor’s office argued that Lewis traveled from Texas to Indianapolis with the intention of being close to Clark.
They also requested a restraining order, stipulating that if Lewis is granted release from jail prior to the trial, he would be required to stay away from both the Gainbridge Fieldhouse and Hinkle Fieldhouse, where the Fever hold their home games.
As of Monday, there was no information available regarding whether Lewis has legal representation to speak on his behalf.
Officials from the Fever have yet to respond to inquiries regarding the situation.
Caitlin Clark has been recognized as the Female Athlete of the Year for 2024, following her exceptional performance with Iowa that led the team to the national championship game last year. She was subsequently selected as the first pick in the WNBA draft and has received accolades as the league’s Rookie of the Year.
