At about 10:00am Saturday morning, Turlock Police, Turlock Fire, and American Medical Response responded to a battery that had just occurred outside See’s Candies in the 2900 block of Geer Road.

Units arrived on scene and located the victim, an elderly man, still in front of the business. He complained of difficulty breathing and was transported by AMR to a local hospital.

Officers then located the suspect at a nearby bus stop. He was contacted and immediately recognized as James Richey, 59, of Turlock, a transient who’s a frequent police customer.

Richey provided a statement, however, his exact reason for the attack was unclear.

Richey was arrested and booked into the Stanislaus County Public Safety Center on the charge of elder abuse.