Photo : ker_vii ( iStock )

In June, a 21-year-old Hawaii man was arrested for driving a stolen car. The Maui News reports that upon getting stopped at a Texaco gas station, the man told the police a multitude of lies, such as the car was his cousin’s and he was just going out to the grocery store to get some soda. Except that the Texaco—where he was—happened to sell soda. He eventually pleaded no contest to unauthorized control of a propelled vehicle and driving without a license. He spent a week in jail, then three months more after he failed to show up for a hearing date in November.


At the man’s reassigned hearing date this week, Second Circuit Judge Rhonda Loo took him to task for lying about breaking the law over soda, and suggested he avoid his favorite beverage while on probation. “You didn’t want to admit that you actually stole the vehicle,” Loo said, and asked, “Is it because the soda made you do it?… I’ve heard a lot of people addicted to meth. I’ve heard a lot of people addicted to alcohol. This is the first time I’ve heard of a Coca-Cola addiction. I’m sure the soda didn’t make you steal the vehicle.”

Judge Loo also asked what soda he was addicted to, and he said Pepsi. She replied, “It’s the Pepsi deprivation syndrome.” She sentenced the man to 100 hours of community service and a $100 fine as part of his probation. He announced plans to get a job.