US Man Charged with Stalking WNBA Star Caitlin Clark
A 55-year-old man from Texas was accused of having a disclaimer in WNBA star Caitlin Clark as she allegedly sent many threatening and sexually abusive messages.
As per police, Michael Lewis was detained last Sunday in Indianapolis, where the Indiana Fever, Clark’s team, is based. Messages were reportedly sent to Clark through X, formerly known as Twitter. These included alarming messages that made him genuinely fearful.
The period for these numerous messages was from December 16 through January 2, according to the claims. One of the messages was referred to in the probable cause, which read this: “Doing a drive-by daily not in front of your home @CaitlinClark22 but don’t call 5-O yet. Don’t you know anyone else would drive through Gainbridge? That’s….Caitlin’s Fieldhouse.” Another message stated, “I’m getting tickets. I’m sitting behind the bench.” Clark was very alarmed at those messages and so contacted the authorities.
The charges were filed immediately after the conclusion of the 2024 WNBA Rookie of the Year award; the threat victim reports that she was in fear of her own life. Before the accused even got to Indianapolis, Clark already altered her public appearances in fear that the acts might escalate. The fears were further aggravated by the message of those tweets-” causing Caitlin Clark to feel terrorized, frightened, intimidated, or threatened.”
The FBI traces the IP addresses of those messages back to a hotel in downtown Indianapolis, where Lewis was arrested. When the police questioned him, Lewis described the messages as his “imagination, a fantasy type thing,” explaining that he never meant to threaten Clark; those were just words that blurted out among the jokes.
Lewis now has a court date set for Tuesday and could face up to six years behind bars, along with a $10,000 fine, if convicted.
Marion County Prosecutor Ryan Mears praised Clark for her courage in speaking out and said that it was important for women to feel safe in their communities and workplaces. “That’s why so often women do not come forward in such cases because it takes a lot of courage to,” Mears noted in a statement. “By speaking out, the victim sets an example for all women who deserve to live and work without the threat of violence.”
The case has come in the footsteps of an Oregon man being charged with the alleged stalking and harassment of Paige Bueckers, a college basketball superstar.
