Guilty plea announced in 2023 assault spree that included attack outside Ray’s Candy Store

Photo last week by Stacie Joy

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin L. Bragg Jr. announced that past Thursday that Gerald Barth has pleaded guilty to felony charges for his role in a string of violent assaults across the East Village — including the January 2023 attack on Ray Alvarez, the then 90-year-old owner of Ray's Candy Store on Avenue A.

"Gerald Barth now stands convicted of felony charges for his role in the violent and brutal attacks of three victims in separate incidents across the East Village," Bragg said in a statement to EVG. "The conduct displayed by Barth and Luis Peroza — who is currently serving a 10-year sentence — is completely unacceptable and resulted in significant injuries for each victim involved. Every Manhattanite deserves to be safe, and I thank our prosecutors for ensuring accountability in this case."

Barth's plea follows the sentencing of co-defendant Luis Peroza, who in 2024 received a 10-year prison term for his part in the same series of assaults. 

As EVG previously reported, Alvarez and his employee Gabe Thorne were attacked outside Ray's Candy Store around 3 a.m. on Jan. 31, 2023, when they stepped outside for some air. 

Prosecutors said Peroza struck Alvarez with a belt weighted by a rock, leaving him with a black eye and a gash on his temple, while Thorne was hit across the chest. The assault reportedly followed an argument after the pair declined to buy seltzer water from the suspects. 

A little later, Peroza and Barth attacked two other victims in separate incidents — one outside a deli on Avenue C, and another on Avenue B — each sustaining serious facial injuries. 

Barth's guilty plea brings closure to a case that rattled the neighborhood and drew widespread support for Alvarez, whose Avenue A shop has been a neighborhood fixture for more than 50 years. 

Previously on EV Grieve:

• A timeline of events after the assault outside Ray's Candy Store