Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg charged a bodega worker with murder when he clearly acted in self defense.
51-year-old Jose Alba stabbed his attacker several times in self-defense and now he’s at Rikers Island jail facing a murder charge.
Alba fatally stabbed Austin Simon, 35, a career criminal who violently attacked him behind the counter last Friday night.
According to reports, Austin Simon’s girlfriend got into an argument with Alba after her EBT card was declined when she tried to purchase a bag of chips.
The disgruntled woman then left the bodega, ran home and returned with her boyfriend – and that’s when the confrontation escalated.
According to Alba’s defense lawyer, the 32-year-old woman took a knife out of her purse and stabbed the bodega worker in the shoulder, the New York Post reported.
She is not facing charges for stabbing Jose Alba – But Jose Alba is facing a second-degree murder charge for fatally stabbing Austin Simon – AFTER the assailants stabbed him and violently attacked him.
Alba’s family says he was in fear for his life and acted in self-defense.
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The New York Post reported:
A hard-working Manhattan bodega clerk who was forced to grab a knife to fend off a violent ex-con, now finds himself sitting behind bars at the notorious Rikers Island jail charged with murder and unable to post $250,000 bail.
The sky-high bail for Jose Alba — who has no known criminal history — was just half of what controversial Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office demanded, despite surveillance video showing the clerk being assaulted by his alleged victim in the bodega.
Alba, 51, was charged with the fatal stabbing of Austin Simon, 35, who can be seen storming behind the counter at the Hamilton Heights Grocery on Broadway and West 139th Street to attack the store worker Friday night.
“It was either him or the guy at the moment,” Alba’s daughter Yulissa told The Post Wednesday, saying it was a case of self-defense.
“He’s never hurt anybody. He’s never had an altercation where he had to defend himself. This is the first time for him.”
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