An 84-year-old flea market owner is recovering in a St. Louis hospital after police say he was violently attacked inside his business, prompting an outpouring of support from a community that has known him for decades.
Jose Gonzalez, who has owned Jose’s Flea Market for 34 years, was inside the business Wednesday afternoon when a man walked in and began beating him, according to Gonzalez’s longtime friend, Lisa Ann.
Gonzalez told her the attacker struck him in the face, head and back with a metal object, possibly a pipe, before overpowering him and knocking him to the floor…