Sacramento neighborhood rallies around beloved donut shop owner injured in attack
SACRAMENTO – The elderly owner of a beloved Sacramento donut shop is recovering from emergency brain surgery after he was attacked at his store.
Tahoe Park is now coming together to help the man who means so much to the community.
Village Express Donuts is the daybreak spot where people go for a donut and their morning cup of mud.
"He's got the best donuts in Sacramento," said neighbor Eric Baugher. "He's been here forever."
But it's the conversation that usually comes with it that's now missing.
It was a few weeks ago when Village Express Donuts owner Mr. Lee was attacked by a homeless man.
"[They] tried to come behind the counter, they got into a struggle, and he did receive a head injury at that time," said Isaac Gonzalez with the Tahoe Park Neighborhood Association.
At first, Lee didn't think much about it. But now, a blood clot has been discovered and he needs brain surgery.
Gonzalez says, unfortunately, the incident is nothing new.
"He has probably been either broken into, vandalized, or something's been stolen from his place dozens of times," Gonzalez said.
In fact, CBS13 covered one instance three years ago. But just like back then, the community is rallying around Lee.
"I'm getting all these messages from people [asking] about what else they can do," Gonzalez said. "Almost 300 people have donated to the GoFundMe."
That includes neighbors showing up to help run the shop while Lee is gone.
"A lot of people call him dad," Baugher said.
A worker at the shop said last time they checked, Lee would still be in the hospital for at least another two weeks.
