Alleged Clark stalker disruptive in court hearing

INDIANAPOLIS — Michael Lewis, who was arrested on a felony charge for allegedly stalking WNBA star Caitlin Clark, appeared in court Tuesday and immediately was rebuked by the judge for talking.

When he entered the courtroom at Marion County Superior Court, Lewis sat back in his chair and said “guilty as charged,” and he interrupted the court’s proceedings multiple times.

“You have a right to remain silent, and I expect you to exercise that on me,” Judge Angela Davis said. When Lewis, 55, continued, she told him again to “stop talking.”

Davis entered a not guilty plea on Lewis’ behalf, stating that she wouldn’t accept a guilty plea at an initial hearing. She assigned public defender Gavin Uitvlugt to Lewis’s case.

Lewis was ordered held on $50,000 bail, and Davis ordered him to stay away from Indianapolis basketball arenas Gainbridge Fieldhouse and Hinkle Fieldhouse — where Clark and the Indiana Fever play their home games — and to not have any contact with the reigning WNBA Rookie of the Year.

Lewis could face up to six years in prison and a $10,000 fine.

Lewis is listed in court documents as being a resident of Denton, Texas, but in court he said he lives in his vehicle, which he drove to Indianapolis. Lewis was arrested at an Indianapolis hotel after allegedly posting multiple explicit messages on social media and tagging Clark.

“I’m getting tickets. I’m sitting behind the bench,” one message read.

“They said I was sending threatening texts..but the only though on my mind was….CAITLIIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNN,” another read.

Additional posts contained sexually violent material.

Prosecutors wrote in court documents that the posts “caused Caitlin Clark to feel terrorized, frightened, intimidated, or threatened” and that an implicit or explicit threat also was made “with the intent to place Caitlin Clark in reasonable fear of sexual battery.”

“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 said Monday. “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.

“We commend Pacers Sports & Entertainment, and the Marion County Sheriff’s Office for the swift and serious action that led to this weekend’s arrest.”

Lewis is due back in Marion County Superior Court on March 31 for a pretrial hearing.

In December, a 40-year-old man from Oregon pleaded guilty to stalking UConn basketball star Paige Bueckers and was given a one-year suspended sentence and three years’ probation.