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A 55-year-old Texas man named Michael Lewis has been arrested and charged with stalking and harassing WNBA superstar Caitlin Clark according to FOX 59 news in Indianapolis. Reporter Eric Graves states that Lewis sent drove to Indianapolis and then sent Clark multiple messages on social media threatening sexual battery.
FBI officials then traced Lewis’s messages. They discovered that he was, in fact, in Indianapolis. Police arrested Lewis on Sunday.
“Been driving around your house 3x a day,” he messaged messaged Clark. “But don’t call the law just yet.”
Lewis also told Clark that he had purchased tickets to an Indiana Fever game and intended to sit behind the bench.
He now faces one count of stalking threatening sexual battery or death, which is a Level 5 felony. In convicted, Level 5 felonies carry a sentence of 1-6 years in prison. The advisory sentence is three years according to the Indiana legal code.
Lewis reports that Clark alerted police after learning that Lewis was in Indianapolis.
“It takes a lot of courage for women to come forward in these cases, which is why many don’t,” Marion County Prosecutor Ryan Mears stated. “In doing so, the victim is setting an example for all women who deserve to live and work in Indy without the threat of sexual violence.”
Lewis made hundreds of Twitter posts tagging Clark in just the last week prior to his arrest.
Caitlin Clark Isn’t The Only Women’s Basketball Fan To Deal With Stalking
Sadly, stalking and threatening violence has become commonplace for women’s basketball stars. UConn star and projected No. 1 pick in the 2025 WNBA Draft Paige Bueckers dealt with a similar situation last year when an Oregon man traveled across the country in a string of stalking incidents.
The man pleaded guilty to second-degree stalking last month, but will not face any jail time. Instead, Parmalee he was barred from the state of Connecticut and all arenas, hotels and practice facilities where the UConn women’s basketball team is present. He was also banned from all WNBA arenas and practice facilities and must continue to abide by a protective order which runs through 2064.