A Manhattan bodega employee was forced to grab a knife after being attacked by a violent ex-convict and now finds himself behind bars in Rikers Island. He is now being charged with murder and will have to post a $250,000 bail.
The man being charged is named Jose Alba, 51, and he has no known criminal background. He became a citizen 14 years ago after moving from the Dominican Republic. New York’s liberal district attorney Alvin Bragg suggested a $500,000 in bail for the stabbing murder of Austin Simon, 35. His bail was later lowered to $250,000. This is all despite footage that shows Alba clearly defending himself.
Here is footage from the crime scene after the incident showing the Convenience store.
Simon, the attacker, is seen storming behind the counter of the little store after his girlfriend brought him to the store over a dispute she was having with the store clerk.
“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.”
The footage shows Simon shoving the Alba against the wall and standing over him. He tries to get past his attacker, but can’t. He’s shoved into the shelves behind him. He then can be seen reaching for a knife behind the candy and stabbing Simon five times.
Alba’s defense attorney says that Simon’s girlfriend stabbed the worker in the shoulder. She is not facing charges currently.
The District Attorney has now charged Alba with second degree murder and he could go away for 15 to 25 years if convicted. This is the same district attorney that’s been backed by George Soros funded groups and is known as notoriously soft on crime.
“It would not be that surprising that someone thinks that harm is going to come to them or that they are going to be robbed, particularly if the woman that you just got into a verbal argument with is also with this person, and ended up taking her own knife out of a purse and stabbing my client,” Alba’s attorney Michelle Villasenor-Grant said at his arraignment Saturday.
Simon was out on parole at the time for attacking a police officer and has been arrested eight different times for assault, robbery, and assault during a domestic dispute. He served a prison sentence for second-degree assault for attacking a cop.
Scary Video Shows Couple Driving In Their Car And Narrowly Avoiding Stray Bullet
On Wednesday night, Alba’s relatives launched a GoFundMe page to raise funds to cover Alba’s bail and legal fees after but the page was removed Wednesday night. The company says they do not fundraise for people being accused of a violent crime.
This is just another case of a liberal DA prosecuting law abiding citizens in some sort of crusade to prove their college thesis level theories right. It’s not working. This man did nothing but defend himself as you can see on video. Unless some major facet of the case changes, this should be self-defense. What do you think?
