The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office will drop charges against a New York City bodega worker who allegedly stabbed a man to death.
A judge approved Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s motion to dismiss the case against Jose Alba, 61, who was charged with second-degree murder after he stabbed a disgruntled customer who shoved and cornered him against a wall behind the store counter in a dramatic encounter caught on tape, leading many viewers to argue he acted in self-defense.
NYC BODEGA WORKER CHARGED WITH MURDER OVER STABBING INCIDENT CAUGHT ON CAMERA
“Following an investigation, the People have determined that we cannot prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant was not justified in his use of deadly physical force. As such, the People will not be presenting the case to a Grand Jury and for the reasons provided in the attached memorandum, hereby move to dismiss the complaint,” the district attorney’s office wrote in a motion to dismiss, per Fox News.
The incident took place on the night of July 1. Alba, who has no prior criminal history, was working his shift when Austin Simon, 35, stormed into the store and confronted Alba about how his girlfriend had been denied a bag of chips, the outlet reported.
Alba refused to let Simon’s girlfriend have the chips, meant for her 10-year-old daughter, after her electronic benefits card was rejected, per court documents. He reportedly snatched the chips from her daughter during the encounter.
Seemingly irate over the treatment of his girlfriend, Simon moved past the store counter and pushed Alba against a wall, blocking his attempts to escape, court documents said. Alba then allegedly took a knife stashed nearby and impaled Simon multiple times. Simon was pronounced dead at a nearby hospital.
Simon had been out on parole at the time of the incident, following a prison stint last year for assaulting a police officer, according to court documents. He was previously arrested for other crimes, including assault and robbery, the New York Postreported.
Defense lawyers for Alba had encouraged the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office to drop charges.
“The video in this case speaks for itself: Mr. Alba was simply doing his job when he was aggressively cornered by a much younger and bigger man,” a spokesperson for Alba’s attorney said last week, CNN reported.
Even Mayor Eric Adams appeared to throw some support behind Alba, arguing in a radio interview he “was being attacked and we need to factor that in when we make these decisions.”
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Simon’s family expressed dismay at the charges being dropped against Alba.
“We are all clearly disappointed and can’t understand how it’s OK to take an unarmed man’s life,” Simon’s cousin, Candra Simon, said, according to the New York Times. “This decision sets a dangerous precedent.”
