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Jose Alba, a bodega clerk in New York City, has reportedly left the Big Apple and is considering returning to his hometown of the Dominican Republic on a more permanent basis after the murder charges against him are finally dropped. ing.
Alba, 61, no longer works at Manhattan’s Blue Moon convenience store, which was attacked behind the counter on July 1 by Austin Simon, 35.
Surveillance video shows Simon threatening Alba, coming behind the counter and pushing him into the wall before Alba reached for a knife and fatally stabbed the six-foot tall man. Despite claiming self-defense, Alba was charged with murder.
Simon’s girlfriend was apparently furious with Alba for taking back an item from her daughter’s hands that she had been unable to pay for using her electronic welfare card. According to court documents, Simon returned to the store wanting to fight Alba, but Alba tried to avoid further confrontation before being attacked.
NYC Judge Drops Murder Charges Against Bodega Worker After Manhattan DA Backtracks
An unindicted girlfriend also reportedly stabbed Alba in the arm during the incident.
“He doesn’t work here anymore. He’s getting ready to leave the country,” the store manager recently told the New York Post. [to the store anymore], but we sometimes go to his house to hang out. “
Francisco Marte, head of the Bodega Association that supports Aruba, told The Washington Post that Aruba is still processing the attack and its aftermath. Then, amid widespread outcry from New York City’s Dominican community, prosecutors signed a deal to lower his $250,000 bail.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office dropped the murder charges against Alba on July 19, saying prosecutors had “reasonable doubt that the defendant did not justify the use of lethal physical force.” It cannot be proved beyond
New York City Mayor Eric Adams and former NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton, among many other supporters, have accused Alba of thwarting what they believe to be either an attempt on her own life or a robbery in progress. He publicly condemned the initial prosecution decision, saying he acted in self-defence.
Marte said Alba is currently spending time in upstate New York before heading to the Dominican Republic.
“He’s on hiatus now,” Marte said. “He went north to get away from it all.”
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“He’s not going back to work at the bodega. He’s taking a break from battling trauma and he said he’s afraid for his life,” Marte added. But he said it’s very difficult with flashbacks of what happened, and we’re getting him some professional help. [Alba and his family] Decide whether he will return to DR permanently or spend some time there. “