Authorities in Indianapolis have charged a 55-year-old Texas man with stalking Indiana Fever star and WNBA Rookie of the Year Caitlin Clark.
Michael Thomas Lewis is accused of repeatedly and persistently harassing Clark, 22, on Dec. 16, the Marion County Prosecutor's Office wrote in a court filing Saturday. Jail records show Lewis is scheduled to appear in court on Tuesday.
Lewis posted numerous messages to Clark X's account, according to an affidavit filed by a Marion County sheriff's lieutenant.
In one of his testimonies, he drove past Gainbridge Fieldhouse, one of the arenas where the Fever play their home games, three times a day, and in another he said he had “one foot on a banana peel and the other on a bully charge.” ” Other messages to Clark were sexually explicit.
The posts “actually caused Caitlin Clark to feel terrorized, fearful, intimidated or threatened” and made implicit or explicit threats “intended to put Caitlin Clark in reasonable fear of sexual battery,” prosecutors wrote in the county supervisor Marion. Report to the court.
The FBI learned that the X account belonged to Lewis and that the messages were sent from IP addresses associated with an Indianapolis hotel and a downtown public library.
Indianapolis police spoke with Lewis on Jan. 8 in his hotel room. He told officers he was in Indianapolis on vacation. When asked why he posted so many posts about Clark, Lewis replied, “For the same reason everyone else posts,” according to court documents.
He told police he meant no harm and that he had fantasized about being in a relationship with Clark.
“It's a matter of imagination, fantasy, a joke and it has nothing to do with threats,” he told police, according to court documents.
In asking the court for a higher than standard bond, prosecutors said Lewis traveled from his home in Texas to Indianapolis “with the intention of being close to the victim.”
Prosecutors also sought a probation order as a special condition if Lewis was released from prison before trial. Prosecutors asked that Lewis be ordered to stay away from Gainbridge and Hinkle Stadium, where the Fever play home games.
The Associated Press could not determine Monday whether Lewis has a lawyer who can speak on his behalf.
Representatives for Fever did not respond to an Associated Press request for comment.
The Associated Press named Clark its 2024 Player of the Year. After leading Iowa to last year's national championship game, she was selected first overall in the WNBA draft and went on to win league Rookie of the Year honors.