American accused of stalking WNBA star Caitlin Clark

Police have charged a man with stalking for allegedly sending multiple threats and sexually explicit messages to WNBA star Caitlin Clark on social media.

The man, Michael Lewis, 55, from Texas, was arrested Sunday at a hotel in Indianapolis, the city where Clark’s team, Indiana Fever, is based.

Law enforcement officials identified messages sent to Clark by Mr. Lewis on X that allegedly contained threatening and sexually explicit messages, police said.

Mr Lewis is due to appear in court on Tuesday morning and, if found guilty, could face up to six years in prison and a fine of $10,000 (£8,211).

According to court documents, one of the messages allegedly sent to Clark read: “@CaitlinClark22 was driving around your house 3 times a day…but don’t call the law yet, the public is allowed to drive by Gainbridge…aka Caitlin’s Country House.”

“I’m getting tickets. I’m sitting behind the bench,” another post read.

Messages were sent between Dec. 16 and Jan. 2, according to court documents.

Clark, the 2024 Women’s National Basketball Association Rookie of the Year, had reported the messages to police and said she feared for her safety.

According to the sports network ESPN, the 22-year-old athlete informed the police before Mr. Lewis arrived in Indianapolis. She had become accustomed to changing her appearance in public for safety reasons.

The social media posts “caused Caitlin Clark to feel terrorized, frightened, intimidated or threatened,” prosecutors said in court documents.

Mr. Lewis was found by the FBI after tracing the IP addresses of the messages to a downtown Indianapolis hotel, Marion County Prosecutor Ryan Mears said.

The man told police his messages were “a figment of imagination, fantasy and it was a joke, and it had nothing to do with threats,” according to court documents.

In a press release issued Monday, Mears said “it takes a lot of courage for women to come forward in these cases, which is why many don’t.”

“In doing so, the victim sets an example for all women who deserve to live and work in Indy without the risk of sexual violence.”

The incident occurred just weeks after an Oregon man was arrested and charged with stalking and harassment of women’s college basketball star Paige Bueckers.