Friends say accused robber is ‘good person’

Deepa Bharath

NEWPORT BEACH -- At least a dozen friends and family members sat in a

courtroom Friday afternoon to show their support for Marc Allen Lewis,

31, the suspected “Dr. Pepper Bandit” accused in a string of liquor store

robberies.

Prosecutors have charged Lewis, who was arrested Wednesday outside his

Irvine home, with 13 counts of armed robbery. Lewis allegedly held up 13

liquor and convenience stores throughout the county, eluding police since

August.

He was scheduled to be arraigned Friday in Harbor Justice Center in

Newport Beach, but his public defender requested the hearing be postponed

until Oct. 27. Lewis is being held in Costa Mesa Jail in lieu of $500,000

bail.

Police coined the name “Dr. Pepper Bandit” because Lewis allegedly

picked up a can of the soda in each of the heists before heading to the

cash register and demanding money while wielding a semiautomatic pistol.

Friends of Lewis sat in the courtroom handing out tissues to wipe away

tears. They said they could not believe how things went so wrong for a

man they called a “sweet, kind and gentle person.”

His mother, a Newport Beach resident who wished to remain anonymous,

said her son is a “good person.”

According to his friends, Lewis graduated from Newport Harbor High

School, received an associate’s degree from Orange Coast College and went

on to pursue a degree in architecture at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, which

he did not complete.

“There’s a lot of questions in my mind,” said Laura Banko, who met

Lewis through a mutual friend five years ago. “He is a good-natured

person. Why would this happen?”

Jeanne Hodges, who was Lewis’ supervisor in a local design firm a few

years ago, said he is “the best employee I’ve ever had.”

“It’s such a shock; your heart sinks,” she said. “I looked on TV and I

said to myself, ‘It’s Marc,’ and then I said ‘It’s not Marc. It can’t

be.’ ”