Manhattan DA to Finally Drop Murder Charge Against Bodega Worker Who Defended Himself

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg has finally moved to drop the controversial murder charge filed against bodega worker Jose Alba, his office confirmed Tuesday.

The DA’s office said it had filed a motion in Manhattan Criminal Court to dismiss the case against the 61-year-old bodega worker after an investigation found it couldn’t prove the “defendant was not justified in his use of deadly physical force.”

Bragg and his office had faced widespread backlash after Alba was swiftly charged with fatally stabbing 35-year-old violent ex-con Austin Simon, who had attacked Alba inside the Hamilton Heights Grocery on July 1.

The decision to drop the second-degree murder charge comes weeks after The Post highlighted Alba’s plight, which saw the hardworking bodega clerk initially held at Rikers Island on a whopping $250,000 bond.

“If it weren’t for the NY Post, Mr. Alba would still be in jail,” said Frank Garcia, chairman of the National Association of Latino State Chambers of Commerce.

In the motion to drop the case, the embattled DA’s office included surveillance images from inside the bodega that showed Alba being shoved by the much younger man in the moments before the worker armed himself with a knife. 

The footage also showed Alba allegedly being stabbed by Simon’s girlfriend while the worker was fending off and fatally slashing the ex-con.

The motion noted that Alba could have argued at trial that he was acting in self-defense — an argument the bodega worker has repeatedly made since his arrest.

“One potential defense is that Alba reasonably believed that Simon was about to use
deadly physical force,” the dismissal memo noted.

“The law provides that a person may use deadly physical force to defend oneself if the person reasonably believes that another person is using or about to use deadly physical force.”

“… Simon’s conduct in entering the store’s small, private area, throwing Alba against the wall to a place he could not escape, and grabbing him by the collar could inspire deep fear in an older and shorter man as to what might be in store next,” the motion continued.

“This was also in the context of the girlfriend saying five minutes earlier that her boyfriend was going to ‘come down here right now and f–k you up’.”

The entire ordeal unfolded after Alba had gotten into an argument with Simon’s girlfriend over a bag of chips, police said at the time. The girlfriend had run home to get Simon after claiming Alba had grabbed the chips from her daughter when her debit card was declined.

The motion suggested that Alba may have assumed he was about to be robbed when Simon stormed into the bodega 10 minutes later — and that Simon could have actually committed a crime by cornering the worker behind the counter.

“It is a crime in New York to use physical force to intentionally restrict a person’s movements by moving him from one place to another or by confining him,” the motion said.

“… if Alba reasonably believed that Simon was committing or attempting to commit a burglary of an occupied building, then Alba was permitted to use deadly physical force upon Simon if Alba reasonably believed it to be necessary to prevent or terminate the commission of the burglary.”

“After investigation, the District Attorney’s Office has concluded that a homicide case against Alba could not be proven at trial beyond a reasonable doubt,” the motion continued.

“Consequently, the People will not be presenting the case to the grand jury, and hereby move to dismiss the Criminal Court complaint.”

As outrage over Alba’s case gained momentum in recent weeks, demonstrators had gathered outside City Hall, and New York City bodega groups even called on the state to adopt a local version of Florida’s controversial “Stand Your Ground” law.

United Bodegas of America spokesman Fernando Mateo hailed Bragg’s decision on Tuesday, telling The Post he had faith the DA would “do the right thing.”

“He saw the judge and jury was the videotape. He did the right thing, I congratulate Alvin Bragg. He has proved people wrong,” Mateo said.

Francisco Matre, head of the Bodega and Small Business Association, said Bragg had personally called him Tuesday morning to inform him he would drop the charges against Alba.

“I’m really happy about the outcome. He said he conducted an investigation and would drop the charges,” Mata said.

*As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases