“This poor guy doesn’t deserve this,” Christopher C., who works at a nearby store in Hamilton Heights, said of 61-year-old bodega worker Jose Alba. “It was self-defense, and I don’t care what anybody says,” he told The Post. “The police need to do a deeper investigation because it’s not fair on him and his family. What if he was the one who lost his life?’ Patricia Perez, a regular customer at the Broadway bodega, said Alba kept the store calm, even during the occasionally unruly night shift there. “Really funny things have happened,” Perez said outside the grocery store. “I’m very sad that this is going through. He’s just defending himself.” Alba, a father of three from the Dominican Republic, was behind the counter shortly after 11pm on Friday when 35-year-old Austin Simon, an ex-con still on parole for assaulting a police officer, burst in behind the counter and successfully him. Patricia Perez, a regular at Jose Alba’s bodega, claimed the embattled worker was “defending himself” against ex-con Austin Simon. Robert MillerJose Alba enters the custody of the New York Sheriff’s Department on July 7, 2022. Alec Tabak The brutal video of the encounter shows Simon shoving the elderly man into a wall and then slashing him as Alba tries to get past him – before pulling out a knife and stabbing Simon. Simon was stabbed five times and later pronounced dead. Police and prosecutors later charged Alba, who had a clean criminal record, with second-degree murder and criminal possession of a weapon. Surveillance video shows bodega employee Jose Alba pulling out a knife after Austin Simon was attacked. To his clients, Alba simply did not belong in handcuffs. “I don’t understand why [he] accused of murder,” said another regular who would only give his name as Juan, 37. “Now, imagine if he didn’t stab the guy? What if the guy also had a gun? The guy could have killed him too. “It wouldn’t end well either,” he added. Several customers feared that Austin Simon might have killed bodega worker Jose Alba. Another local, who identified himself as Jeromy, said, “I come to this deli all the time and this man is a very nice man.” “I know the man would never kill anyone on purpose,” Jeromy said of Alba. “Maybe he just didn’t feel safe. I don’t know, but this man is such a great guy. This is unfortunate.”
