2 men charged for brutal assault of 90-year-old owner of famous NYC candy shop

Two men have been arrested and charged Friday for the brutal assault of the 90-year-old owner of the famous New York City Ray's Candy Store.

The suspects, Luis Peroza, 39, and Gerald Barth, 55, were taken into custody on Friday for the attack that left store owner and operator Ray Alvarez with a black eye and eating through a straw, reported the New York Post.



Not only was Peroza charged with assault, but he also is facing additional charges for a string of robberies from last February that included him allegedly victimizing Alvarez's store, which is in the East Village neighborhood. According to the NYPD, Peroza has racked up 10 prior arrests since 2001.

The Daily Mail reported that police confirmed that the elderly man was assaulted on Tuesday around 3 am, "when two strangers known to sell seltzer water in the area, approached the senior."

Alvarez reportedly "declined their solicitation," to which the two men responded by threatening to kill him and leaving.

According to police, "one of the strangers - a balaclava-clad man seen pushing a shopping cart - returned and assaulted the storeowner."

Alvares was attacked with "an object described as a belt with a heavy rock on the end," by investigators, and the assailant left him bleeding on the ground. According to the outlet, he came in to work the next day sporting a black eye.

Gabe Thorne, an employee of Alvarez's who was also assaulted, told ABC 7 that his assailant "out of no where pulls out a piece of rope with a rubber ball on the end, and hits me right here, I'm like wow." According to Thorne, he was hit in the chest while his elderly boss was hit in the face.

Alvarez, who opened the shop in 1974 after immigrating to the US from Iran, said that in the five decades he has operated the store he has been robbed but never assaulted.