Man accused of stalking Caitlin Clark proclaims himself ‘guilty as charged’ in court appearance

One day after Michael Thomas Lewis was charged with felony stalking of Indiana Fever star and WNBA rookie of the year Caitlin Clark, the 55-year-old Texas man shouted “guilty as charged” as soon as he sat down in a courtroom Tuesday.

Lewis is accused of repeated and continued harassment of the 22-year-old Clark beginning on Dec. 16, the Marion County prosecutor’s office wrote in a court filing.

WISH-TV of Indianapolis reported that Lewis behaved “very erratically” in his first court appearance and, at times, appeared to be laughing and joking while noting he had not been taking his medication while jailed or while living in his car.

Prosecutors said they were seeking a higher than standard bond because Lewis traveled from his home in Texas to Indianapolis “with the intent to be in close proximity to the victim.” Lewis was ordered held on a $50,000 bond and, if the bond is posted, he will be required to wear an ankle monitor and remain in Indiana.

The court also filed a not-guilty plea on Lewis’ behalf, and Judge Angela Davis suggested Lewis “remain silent” in jail and only speak with his attorney.

His pretrial hearing will be held remotely on March 31.

Lewis received a no-contact order and the stay-away order sought by prosecutors that bars him from being within 500 feet of Gainbridge Fieldhouse and Hinkle Fieldhouse. Gainbridge Fieldhouse is the home court for the Fever. Clark has visited Hinkle Fieldhouse for Butler University men’s basketball games. Her boyfriend Connor McCaffery is on Butler’s coaching staff.

In one post on X, Lewis said he had been repeatedly been driving by Gainbridge Fieldhouse. In another, he said he had “one foot on a banana peel and the other on a stalking charge.” Other messages directed at Clark were sexually explicit.

The social media posts “actually caused Caitlin Clark to feel terrorized, frightened, intimidated, or threatened” and an implicit or explicit threat also was made “with the intent to place Caitlin Clark in reasonable fear of sexual battery,” prosecutors wrote in the Marion County Superior Court filing.

Investigators discovered that Lewis’ most recent messages came from IP addresses in Indianapolis and that he was staying at the Hilton Garden Hotel at 120 W. Market St., a few blocks from Gainbridge Fieldhouse. He also posted messages from downtown’s Indianapolis Public Library.

Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department officers visited Lewis because of concern about the messages and Lewis told them he was having “an imaginary relationship” with Clark. According to an affidavit, Lewis said he was in Indianapolis on a vacation and called the posts a “joke.”

Despite the visit from law enforcement, the messages continued, Mears said, leading to Sunday’s arrest.

Clark told law enforcement that she altered her public appearances and patterns of movement due to fear for her safety because of the messages, and she become very concerned for her safety after learning that Lewis was in Indianapolis.

The Associated Press named Clark its Female Athlete of the Year for 2024. After leading Iowa to last year’s national championship game, she was the top pick in the WNBA draft and went on to win rookie of the year honors in the league.