A New York bodega worker who stabbed a career criminal in self-defense will not return to work because colleagues fear for his safety after he was released on bail.
Jose Alba, 62, was released from Rikers Island Thursday night after his bail was reduced from $250,000 to $50,000 and returned to his Hamilton Heights home with an electronic monitor and accompanied by one of his sons. He only had to pay $5,000.
His colleagues at the bodega now say they will not let him work again because they fear the victim’s friends will harm him.
“We’re not letting him come back,” Wilson, an employee at the Blue Moon convenience store, told the New York Post.
Wilson said his victim’s “friends and family” now know where Alba works and his colleagues fear it will be a “death sentence” if he returns to his post.
Alba was arrested Friday for stabbing Austin Simon after the 35-year-old stormed into the Harlem bodega where he worked and assaulted him after Alba refused to open a tab for his girlfriend, who couldn’t pay for a bag of chips. He was charged with second-degree murder.
Jose Alba, 62, was released from Rikers Island Thursday night and returned home accompanied by one of his sons after his bail was reduced from $250,000 to $50,000
Alba was arrested last week for stabbing 35-year-old Austin Simon, who stormed into the Harlem bodega where he worked and assaulted him. Alba’s bond was cut after public outrage
Popular in the local community, Alba has worked at the Harlem bodega for decades and has no criminal record. He came home Thursday with an ankle monitor
Wilson said he is now afraid he could face a similar situation to Alba if he was forced to protect himself.
‘Why is [Alba] getting charged? He worked. This scares the workers even more now. That could happen to me. We work out here. We are scared. We have to protect ourselves,” he told the New York Post.
“He wasn’t looking for trouble, he was working. What should he do? The guy could have done anything…[Alba] is an old man. That’s not fair.’
Wilson also expressed concern about the growing gun problem in New York City, saying he doesn’t know “who has a gun in the neighborhood.” He also said that all the workers were trying to do was “make money and serve the community” and not engage in violence.
“You should consider self-defense,” another Escoo employee told the Post. “We risk our lives in the service of the community.”
Alba was jailed and held on $250,000 bail after prosecutors from Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg doubled down on demands despite releasing other career criminals.
After vocal outrage over the decision, a Manhattan judge finally lowered Alba’s bail today and he was released to his home.
This was the altercation that led to the arrest of Jose Alba last Friday. Alba, 62, is shown in a blue striped shirt and hat. Austin Simon, right, came into the store to confront Alba, who had refused to give his girlfriend a bag of potato chips
Earlier Thursday, NYC Mayor Eric Adams visited the bodega to express his support for Alba.
“I am a person who is there for people who obey the law. I saw from the video, I saw a voter here in the store obeying the law… It’s time for New Yorkers and Americans to stand up for people who are abiding by the law,” he said.
At a hearing Thursday, prosecutors for Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg moved to lower Alba’s bond from $250,000 to $50,000. He only had to pay $5,000 — 10 percent — paid for by his family and boss.
Alba is not allowed to leave New York City and has had to surrender his passport, meaning he cannot go on a previously planned trip to the Dominican Republic.
But Alba’s release is a small victory for the 62-year-old, who many say should never have been arrested.
Popular in the local community, Alba has worked there for decades and has no criminal record.
The attack on the bodega happened when Simon’s girlfriend’s card was declined when she tried to buy a bag of chips. Her debit card was declined and Alba refused to give her the chips.
She then pulled a knife from her purse and, according to Alba’s family, attacked him before calling her boyfriend for support.
Surveillance footage shows Simon storming into the store in a $350 Amiri shirt, standing over Alba and then fighting with him.
Alba grabbed the store’s box cutter knife to stab him in the neck and chest. He died later in hospital.
First, Manhattan Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office asked for bail of $500,000 – which the judge last week said was excessive – then decided $250,000 – which the family could not afford.
They set up a GoFundMe page to raise bail and pay his legal team, but GoFundMe removed the account after raising $20,000.
A GoFundMe spokesperson told : “Our Terms of Service prohibit fundraising for the legal defense of a violent crime.
“At this point the fundraiser has been removed and all donors have been refunded.”
Alba was sitting in the tiny shop when the man cornered him and demanded that he apologize to his girlfriend, who police say cannot afford a bag of chips
The supermarket where the incident happened last Friday
On Thursday, Bragg’s office said it had reached an agreement with the man’s family on the terms of his bail, which include handing over his passport and wearing an electronic ankle monitor.
The owner of the grocery store where the incident took place has also agreed to be liable for him, the prosecutor’s office said.
Alba – who is from the Dominican Republic and became a US citizen 14 years ago – was thrown into Rikers.
Among those who slammed Bragg for the decision to impeach him Thursday was Republican gubernatorial nominee Lee Zeldin.
“My first action on Day 1 as governor next January will be to fire Manhattan Attorney Alvin Bragg,” he said.
Yesterday, a store employee, who asked not to be named, told : “The girlfriend is still out there enjoying her life.”
The man’s family set up a GoFundMe to help him pay for his legal defense, but it was removed overnight after raising $20,000
The page no longer exists on GoFundMe. The fundraising site has yet to explain why
Store regulars described Alba as a hard-working father who was preparing for retirement and looking forward to returning to the Dominican Republic next week to visit family.
He worked at the store from noon to 6am every day of the week, they told , to “make an honest living”.
But during his more than two-year stint at the store, several customers have attempted to take advantage of him, snatching items and walking away with them.
A man even pointed a gun at him once, they said.
When Simon walked into the store last week and started threatening him, he didn’t know if he had a gun and could kill him.
“He never wanted no problem,” said Ahmad’s son, who worked at the counter on Wednesday.
“I think of him as my grandfather in this situation.”