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Suspect in attack on 90-year-old East Village 'candy man' held on $200K bail
[NYPOST] The man charged with slugging the beloved 90-year-old owner of the East Village landmark "Ray’s Candy Store" is being held behind bars on $200,000 bail.Luis Peroza, 39, is accused of punching Ray Alvarez outside the legendary sweets peddler’s business Tuesday after the elderly victim refused to buy a package of soda from him, according to a criminal complaint filed late Saturday. Peroza and a second man, 55-year-old Gerald Barth, are also charged with robbing a second man just 35 minutes later outside an Avenue C deli, pummeling that victim with an object after demanding money, the complaint said. Police said the crooks walked up to Alvarez outside the famed candy shop around 3 a.m. Tuesday and tried to sell him the soda — then punched him when he refused. Alvarez, who opened the store in 1974, told The Post that his assailants struck him with "a belt with a stone on one end," knocking him to the ground. "I went down, bleeding," he said. "I thought, I’m never going to make it. He hit me in a very bad spot. I just want to lay down." Posted by: Fred 2023-02-06 |
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