Two men arrested for brutal beating of owner of Ray’s Candy Store, 90

Two Manhattan men have been arrested for brutally beating and attempting to rob the 90-year-old owner of Ray’s Candy Store in the East Village.

Luis Peroza, 39, and Gerald Barth, 55, were arrested Friday in the gruesome attack that left Ray Alvarez with a black eye and eating through a straw, the New York Post reports.

Police said Peroza has been charged with assault and noted that he also faces charges for several robberies in February that included Alvarez’s store on Avenue A.

Law enforcement sources told the Post that Barth was also arrested for other robberies in the East Village.

Police arrested Luis Peroza, 39, (left) and Gerald Barth, 55, (right) in connection with the brutal assault and attempted robbery at the famed Ray’s candy store in the East Village.

The store’s owner, Ray Alvarez, 90, was allegedly assaulted by Peroza with a weapon described as “a belt with a heavy rock on the end,” leaving the old man with a black eye (above).

The attack against Álvarez occurred outside the 24-hour candy store early Tuesday morning when a hooded man entered the establishment and threatened the 90-year-old man with death.

The man left, but returned wielding “a belt with a heavy stone at the end,” according to investigators.

A hit from the makeshift weapon reportedly left Alvarez, who had been working the night shift at the iconic store on Avenue A, in the ground bleeding as the suspect fled down the street.

The attack also saw another Ray employee who had been working overnight with Alvarez hit in the chest. The couple did not require hospitalizations and only called the police the next day.

Police claimed that the man who attacked Álvarez was Peroza, who was caught on security cameras fleeing the scene.

New York police officials said Peroza has 10 prior arrests dating back to 2001, and he was arrested Friday following multiple robberies in the area.

In addition to robberies, Peroza has previously been arrested for assault, criminal mischief and petty theft.

Law enforcement sources told the Post that Barth had also had previous run-ins with the law and was suspected of carrying out other robberies.

Hours after the robbery at Ray’s Candy Store, Barth allegedly attacked a 51-year-old man on Avenue B and stole the victim’s cell phone after being denied a cigarette.

Caught on camera fleeing the scene, the suspect, now identified as Peroza by police. Authorities said he, too, was arrested for a series of robberies in the area on Friday.

Alvarez, who had been working the night shift at the iconic store he has owned since 1974, was left on the ground bleeding, and the suspect fled down the street.

Álvarez shelled out $30,000 in the 1970s to build his iconic 24-hour establishment.

Born Asghar Ghahraman, Álvarez immigrated to the US from the Middle East in the early 1970s, just a few years before the residents of his native country overthrew the President’s Pahlavi government during the Iranian revolution.

Initially working as a waiter in Manhattan, Álvarez raised enough funds to buy the store he had dreamed of opening in 1974, when New York was experiencing a series of financial crises that nearly culminated in the city’s bankruptcy.

With a $30,000 outlay for the space, Álvarez opened his doors later that year and has continued to run his shop, even sleeping in the back at times, for nearly half a century.

During that span, the Avenue A store, which was nearly forced to close during the pandemic, has served customers ranging from Madonna to Kim Kardashian, while serving like a call back to an earlier time when soda shops in New York were especially plentiful.

The Avenue A store, which was nearly forced to close during the pandemic, serves as a call back to a time when soda shops on the streets of New York were commonplace.

Born Asghar Ghahraman, Álvarez immigrated to the US from the Middle East in the early 1970s, just a few years before the Iranian revolution.

The business, like many others in the Big Apple, nearly went bankrupt during the pandemic, reportedly having trouble keeping up with food and electricity costs.

Álvarez, however, refused to raise his prices, which have changed little in the last 49 years, citing that he would never do that for your loyal customers.

New Yorkers would then band together to host a fundraiser for the senior before his 90th birthday last month, rather than see him forced into retirement.

“We want to help Ray stay in business for as long as he wants until he decides to hang up his apron on his terms,” ​​explained a description of the fundraiser, titled Ray’s 90th B-day Celebration.

Since then, she has raised more than $58,000, more than half her goal of $90,000.