Briefly

--Mathis Winkler

An Irvine man dubbed the “Soda Jerk Bandit” by police for picking up a

bag of chips and a bottle of Dr Pepper before robbing more than a dozen

liquor stores throughout Orange County pleaded guilty Wednesday.

Marc Allen Lewis, 31, who was arrested by Costa Mesa and Irvine

officers near his home in October, faces 12 to 67 years in prison when he

is sentenced April 20, said Deputy Dist. Atty. Franklin Carroll, who

prosecuted the case.

Over a period of two months before his arrest, the Newport Harbor High

School graduate followed the same routine during each of his holdups,

authorities said.

After picking up chips and a soda, the robber, also nicknamed the “Dr

Pepper Bandit,” would walk up to the counter, pull out a blue-steel

semiautomatic pistol and demand money from employees at mom-and-pop

liquor stores.

Lewis’ last holdup at a liquor store on East 17th Street in Costa Mesa

was largely unsuccessful. He escaped with the soda, a bottle of water and

a newspaper after the terrified clerk ran out of the store.

During his arraignment in October, friends and relatives of Lewis said

they couldn’t believe he would commit such crimes.

“He’s a good-natured person,” said Laura Banko, a friend. “Why would

this happen?”

Lewis will be sentenced at Harbor Justice Center in Newport Beach.