Bushwick artist Ian Sklarsky was reportedly attacked while waiting for the Q train at Times Square by a man wielding a candy bar as a weapon Tuesday night.
Sklarsky claims that the suspect, Eliexer Reyes, was muttering as he walked past him rolling a pink suitcase along the subway platform. When Sklarsky asked him what he said, Reyes hit him in the face with the chocolate bar, saying “Take that,” the artist told DNA Info.
“It was kind of a face punch of sorts, but with a candy bar,” Sklarsky said to Gothamist.
A portrait by Ian Sklarsky.
Photo: Ian Sklarsky.
Reyes reportedly then abandoned the candy and punched Sklarksy in the face eight times.
“I don’t fight. My eyes, my face and my hands are things that I can’t damage,” said Sklarsky, who says he did not strike back. Fortunately, the artist, who creates his work by drawing in a continuous line without looking at the canvas, was not seriously injured, although he is suffering a black eye, bruised nose, and two split lips.
Believe it or not, Reyes is not the first person to have attempted to employ chocolate as a weapon. During World War II, the Nazis actually developed a chocolate bar bomb that they hoped would assassinate Winston Churchill. The device was never used, but British draftsman Laurence Fish created a brilliant drawings of the deadly candy as part of his work for UK’s M15 counter sabotage unit.
Reyes fled the subway after his unprovoked attack, but was soon arrested. He has reportedly been charged with misdemeanor assault and disorderly conduct, and has an arrest history including criminal mischief, assault, and turnstile jumping.
Ian Sklarsky at the police station.
Photo: Ian Sklarsky.
Sklarksy doesn’t remember what variety of candy he was assaulted with, but thinks it was either a Snickers or a Milky Way. The former would be quite ironic, considering the brand’s recent “hunger” ad campaign, which suggests alleviating hunger-induced unpleasantness with a Snickers. The candy bar even unveiled a new line of wrappers featuring words like “cranky,” “grouchy,” and “irritable.”
If only Sklarsky had run into Reyes after the man finished his sugary snack.