Facing Public Backlash Manhattan DA Lowers Bail for 61-Year-Old Convenience Store Clerk, Jose Alba, in Clear Self Defense Case
The Safari Rules are surfacing again….
Jose Alba, 61, was working at Hamilton Heights Grocery on Broadway when a 35-year-old career criminal and ex-con, Austin Simon, stormed behind the counter and shoved him into a wall. Austin Simon then continued to aggressively push Alba around, when the clerk grabbed a knife to defend himself and stabbed his attacker, Simon.
The entire incident was captured on CCTV footage [SEE HERE, Rumble], and the series of events were triggered when Simon’s girlfriend did not have enough money for her purchase and Jose Alba would not let her just take it without paying. The boyfriend, Austin Simon, then enters the store, walks behind the counter and begins assaulting the 61-year-old Mr. Alba. After a few minutes of being shoved and pushed around, Alba then grabbed a knife and stabbed Simon. The attacker died of his injuries. The store clerk was arrested by police, charged with murder and sent to jail with a $500,000 bail.
New York – The hard-working Manhattan bodega worker who was languishing on Rikers Island after being charged with murder for fending off a violent ex-con inside his store could be home as soon as Thursday night after a judge agreed to lower his hefty bail.
Jose Alba, who was being held on $250,000 bail in the Friday night caught-on-video attack, is due to be sprung after Manhattan prosecutors asked a judge to lower the amount to $50,000 — with relatives and Alba’s boss putting up the $5,000 needed to spring him on a bail bond.
