Two of the four men believed to be involved in a fatal beating last week outside of Pat’s King of Steaks were arrested Monday, police said.
Omar Arce, 32, and Jose Alberto Flores-Huerta, 33, both of South Philadelphia, have been charged with murder, attempted murder and aggravated assault in connection with the attack, which left a 28-year-old man dead and two others hospitalized.
Investigators continue to search for 34-year-old Osvaldo “Willie” Pedraza and 32-year-old Victor Pedraza. Authorities issued arrest warrants for the pair on Sunday.
Though it’s unclear what, if anything, prompted the brutal beating, police said the men appeared to get into a verbal argument with the victims in the early morning hours of Thursday, Sept. 16, at the cheesesteak shop.
Both groups likely attended an earlier soccer match in Chester between the Philadelphia Union and Club America, a team based in Mexico City, investigators have said.
Surveillance video shows the attackers punching, kicking and swinging a metal trash can lid at Isidro Cortez, Cortez’s 64-year-old father and a friend. Cortez was pronounced dead at the scene.
Arce and Flores-Huerta are being held without bail. Attorneys for the men could not be identified Tuesday.
The beating was the second homicide in recent months near Pat’s, a popular tourist destination at the corner of 9th Street and Passyunk Avenue in South Philadelphia.
In July, a 23-year-old man was fatally shot during an early-morning argument while waiting in line. The alleged shooter later turned himself in to police.
