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A Texas man was arrested over the weekend and charged with stalking WNBA star Caitlin Clark, authorities report.
The 55-year-old, Michael Lewis, sent the Indiana Fever star threatening and sexually explicit messages on X, police said. He has been charged with stalking — a crime that carries a sentence if one to six years, if convicted.
Through an investigation, authorities found that Lewis was sending messages from an IP address in Indianapolis while staying at a hotel downtown. Marion County was able to gain an affidavit for probable cause due to various public messages on X from Lewis, including one where he said, “been driving around your house 3x a day…but don’t call the law just yet, the [public] is allowed to drive by gainbridge…aka Caitlin’s Fieldhouse.”
The FBI contacted X regarding the messages, ordering an emergency disclosure, court records said.
Officers visited Lewis on January 8 and asked about the messages. Lewis said that he had “an imaginary relationship” with Clark and said while he was in Indianapolis on vacation, he did not make any threatening posts.
After the police visit — where officers warned him to stop — Lewis continued to message Clark via X. He was arrested on Sunday and was held on $100,000 bail. During a court appearance on Tuesday, Lewis repeatedly interrupted court proceedings, including an outburst where he claimed, “guilty as charged.”
Prosecutors filed an order banning Lewis from two arenas where the Fever regularly plays: Hinkle Fieldhouse on Butler University’s campus and Gainbridge Fieldhouse. According to the affidavit, obtained by NBC News, Clark said she’s feared for her safety since learning about Lewis’ messages.
This isn’t the first time a WNBA star has dealt with stalking; a 40-year-old man from Oregon pleaded guilty to second-degree stalking of UConn star Paige Bueckers last year, where he received a one-year suspended sentence and three years’ probation. Additionally, Connecticut Sun’s DiJonai Carrington and New York Liberty’s Breanna Stewart have received threatening emails.
