The 90-year-old owner of famed Ray’s Candy Store was brutally assaulted outside his East Village shop — leaving him with a black eye and a nasty cut on his face, police and reports said Thursday.
Ray Alvarez was randomly attacked around 3 a.m. Tuesday by a stranger who asked him if he wanted to buy a package he was carrying, cops said.
When Alvarez asked what was inside the box, the perp handed it off to another man — and threatened to kill the owner, police said.
He then attacked the elderly owner using a belt that had a heavy rock affixed to the end, hitting him on the left side of the head, according to cops. The victim did not seek medical treatment.
Local blog EV Grieve posted a photo of Alvarez, who has run the shop for 50 years, with a black eye and gash on his temple.
Ray’s Candy Store is a 24-hour shop that has been open since 1974 at 113 Avenue A.
Police released a surveillance image of a man wanted in the attack, showing him dressed all in black and pushing a purple shopping cart filled with random items.
