Man Guilty of 63 Counts in ‘Teller Rapist’ Case

A 28-year-old North Hollywood man dubbed “The Automatic Teller Rapist” was convicted Tuesday of 62 felonies and one misdemeanor in connection with attacks on a dozen women in the San Fernando Valley.

A Los Angeles Superior Court jury deliberated 4 1/2 days before finding David Keith Lewis guilty of all counts, including rape, genital penetration by an object, oral copulation, sexual battery and robbery. The crimes occurred over a seven-week period in December, 1984, and January, 1985.

Lewis, who was caught after he was videotaped at an automatic teller machine as he tried to use a card stolen from one of his victims, faces 241 years in prison, Deputy Dist. Atty. Margaret Barreto-Morehouse said.

“I would hope that he’d be in jail until he’s at least 80 because I think this man, if he comes out, is going to be a real problem for all of us in society,” the prosecutor said.

Barreto-Morehouse said most of the women were attacked and robbed either at gunpoint or knifepoint in supermarket or shopping center parking lots as they entered or left their cars. Three of the women were forced to withdraw money from automatic teller machines, according to the prosecutor.

Not every bank videotapes customers using automatic tellers, Barreto-Morehouse said, adding: “We were just lucky this one did.”

Jurors said they were impressed that all 12 of Lewis’ victims, who were between the ages of 17 and 30 when they were attacked, were able to identify him in court, despite his altered appearance.

Jury foreman Arline Pepp said Lewis apparently acquired glasses and lost weight in an effort to mislead the victims.

Biker to Yuppie to Nerd

“One of the victims testified that when he did the crime, he was the biker type,” Pepp said. “When she saw him at the preliminary hearing he was the yuppie. And now he’s the nerd.”

Lewis’ attorney, George A. Elber, tried to show during the four-month trial that his client, a part-time gardener, had alibis for each of the incidents and that the identifications were “unreliable.”

“Each of those girls got up there and testified (she was) 100% sure, positive, absolutely certain, but when you look at the basis for their identification, I find it’s lacking in validity,” Elber said. “They made mistakes, they didn’t see things that should have been seen if this was the right man.”

Among these, Elber argued, was a tattoo on Lewis’ body that none of the victims observed. But jurors, who were shown photographs of the tattoo, said they decided that it probably was not visible during the attacks.

Inconsistent Alibis

Lewis himself took the stand but jury foreman Pepp, an interior designer, said: “We found a lot of inconsistencies with his alibis. There were several points where he contradicted himself or other witnesses contradicted his testimony.”

Sentencing was set for May 28. Lewis is also awaiting sentencing for an August, 1985, attempt to escape from County Jail. He has pleaded guilty in that case.