A Texas man has been arrested and charged after allegedly stalking and sending violent messages to Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark. But the man is maintaining his innocence.
Michael Thomas Lewis, age 55, of Denton, Texas, was arrested on Sunday and charged with one count of stalking threatening sexual battery or death, a Level 5 felony.
According to court documents obtained by Fox59 in Indianapolis, Lewis used the social media platform X to send sexually violent messages to Clark. He then traveled to Indianapolis, allegedly with the “intent to be in close proximity” to her.
Investigators traced messages to an IP address on W. Market Street in Indianapolis, less than half a mile from Gainbridge Fieldhouse, the home arena of the Indiana Fever.
Alarmingly, Lewis claimed in one message that he was driving around Gainbridge Fieldhouse multiple times a day and warned Clark not to alert authorities.
“Been driving around your house 3x a day,” he wrote, referring to the arena. “But don’t call the law just yet.”
The messages understandably left Clark feeling alarmed. Fox59 reports that Clark informed authorities she felt unsafe, particularly after learning that Lewis was in Indianapolis. She altered her public appearances and movements in response to the threat.
Despite the allegations and the clear record of threatening messages from his account, Lewis denies wrongdoing. He stated that his trip to Indianapolis was for vacation and characterized his messages to Clark as “an imagination,” “a fantasy-type thing,” and “a joke.”
When police asked him why he mentioned Clark in so many posts, he replied, “Just the same reason everybody makes posts.” When asked about posts that were threatening in nature, Lewis told police that it wasn’t him.
Police initially warned Lewis about his posts and advised him to stop sending those sorts of messages messages. However, he continued contacting Clark just hours after their warning.
Lewis was arrested and charged on Sunday. If convicted of the Level 5 felony, he could face a prison term of up to six years.
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