Customers and co-workers of the Manhattan bodega employee facing murder charges after he fatally stabbed a violent ex-convict who attacked him in his store stuck by him Thursday, calling him a “good guy.”
“That poor guy doesn’t deserve this,” Christopher K., who works at a nearby store in Hamilton Heights, said of store worker Jose Alba, 61.
“It was self-defense and I don’t care what anybody says,” he told The Post. “The police need to do a more thorough 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 store, said Alba kept the store calm, including during the sometimes unruly night shift there.
“In fact, ridiculous things happen,” Perez told the grocery store. “I’m really sad that he’s going through this. He’s just defending himself.”
Alba, a father of three from the Dominican Republic, was behind the counter shortly after 11 p.m. Friday when Austin Simon, 35, an ex-convict still on parole for assaulting a police officer, burst behind the counter and tackled him.
Patricia Perez, a regular patron at Jose Alba’s Bottle, claims the embattled worker was “defending himself” against ex-con Austin Simon. Robert Miller Jose Alba enters the custody of the New York Sheriff’s Department on July 7, 2022. Alec Tabak
The wild video of the encounter shows Simon pushing the older man into a wall, then cutting him off as Alba tries to walk 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 being attacked by Austin Simon.
For its clients, Alba was simply not the handcuffed place.
“I do not understand why [he] is accused of murder,” said another regular, who gave only his name as Juan, 37. “Now, imagine if he didn’t stab the guy? What if the guy also had a gun? The man could have killed him too.
“It wasn’t going to end well either way,” he added.
Several customers feared that Austin Simon might have killed store worker Jose Alba.
Another local, who identified himself as Jeromy, said, “I come to this deli all the time and this guy is a very nice guy.”
“I know this man would never kill anybody on purpose,” Jeromy said of Alba. “Maybe he just didn’t feel safe. I don’t know, but this guy is a great guy. That’s unfortunate.”
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