Ice Cream Shop Closes Following Owner's Arrest, Store Items Auctioned Off

Richie’s Ice Cream & Bakery was open today, but not to sell ice cream. Instead, store owner Richard Scarchilli was auctioning off ice cream machines, freezers, as well as chairs that customers once sat on.

The store has officially closed and while some people who walked up to the store earlier today said they were surprised by the sudden closing, reactions were mixed. 

One woman walked in only to find yellow tags hanging onto the various items displayed in the store and about a dozen people bidding on them. Another man, a Yorktown resident, peaked through the window and shook his head.

However, given the allegations on which Scarchilli was arrested last month, he said, he was not surprised the ice cream store, located on Downing Drive, had closed. 

 last month-- one count of promoting a sexual performance by a child and one count of possessing an obscene sexual performance by a child. He is due in County Court on Sept. 27 and faces a maximum of seven years in state prison, if convicted.

"I'm not surprised he is going out of business," Ethan Bardach, of Yorktown, said.

He and his friend Charles Barbieri, who was about to walk in to look for a summer job before he saw the auction, said he had a friend from Yorktown High School who used to work at the store. 

"I don't think people would be disappointed [the store closed]," Barbieri said. "There are so many other [ice cream] places."

Brothers Anthony and Mario Shabani, of Millwood, walked into the store looking to make a purchase, but instead walked out with free ice cream cakes. Although they weren't regular customers, they said, they were surprised to see the store close. 

Sue Lewis and her 11-year-old daughter Victoria also left with three free ice cream cakes after bidding on and purchasing a freezer for $25, which she said was a bargain. 

"We just saw the [auction] sign," Lewis said. "We weren't going to stop." But she said someone asked them if they wanted to go in. The freezer might need a little cleaning, she said, but she was assured it still worked. 

There were about 100 different lots that people were bidding on, including balloons, cake decorations, freezers, ice cream machines, freezers, chairs, a waffle machine, prep tables, racks, and other miscellaneous items. One man bought the ice cream sign that was still hanging on the front window as well as a garbage bin.

Vincent Bila of Caspert Management Co., Inc., the professional auction and appraisal company based out of New Jersey, said this action was not typical because the equipment would normally be in a better shape. 

"It's bargains," he said. "People would buy it."

Anyone else interested in purchasing items from the store, can do so tomorrow when whatever was left after the action could be bought.