A New York City bodega clerk who had been charged with murder after defending himself from an attacker has decided to leave the United States and return to his home country, people who knew him told media last week.
Jose Alba, 61, had been charged with second-degree murder before weeks of intense pressure led Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg to drop the charges. Following his ordeal, Alba’s friends and co-workers say the man who fled the Dominican Republic for the United States will now return to his home country.
“He doesn’t work here anymore. He’s getting ready to move out of the country,” the manager of the bodega where Alba worked told the New York Post.
The manager, who asked not to be named, told the outlet that Alba was going back to his hometown of Santiago.
“He doesn’t come [to the store anymore], but we go visit him at home from time to time,” the manager told the Post.
Francisco Marte, who co-founded the Bodega and Small Business Association, which has been helping Alba, told the Post that the bodega worker is still working through what happened to him.
“He is taking a hiatus right now,” Marte told the outlet. “He went upstate to get away from everything” before he plans to go to the Dominican Republic.
“He is not going back to work at the bodega. He is taking a break fighting with his trauma, and he said he is afraid for his life,” Marte added. “He is trying to get back to normal, but he said it’s very hard when you have flashbacks of what happened. We are getting him professional help, and then [Alba and his family] decide whether he goes back to the DR for good or just spends some time there.”
Alba’s ordeal began on July 1, when he was working at his Hamilton Heights bodega. A woman entered the store and attempted to buy a bag of chips for her 10-year-old daughter, the Post reported. The woman’s EBT debit card was declined, and she told police that Alba tried to snatch the chips from her daughter. To retaliate, the woman knocked over some items on the counter and left the store to get her boyfriend, Simon.
Simon and the woman returned to the store about 10 minutes later, with Simon forcing his way behind the counter and shoving Alba down onto a chair. Simon then menacingly hovered over Alba, according to surveillance footage. When Alba tried to get around Simon, the younger man grabbed him by the shoulder. At that time, Alba grabs a small box cutter off a shelf and stabs Simon five times, resulting in his death.
The Post reported that Alba’s defense attorney told the outlet Simon’s girlfriend allegedly stabbed the bodega clerk with a knife during the attack, but she has not been charged with any crimes.
Manhattan DA Bragg had initially requested $500,000 bail for Alba, a father of three who immigrated to the U.S. from the Dominican Republic more than 30 years ago and became a U.S. citizen 14 years ago. That initial request was reduced to $250,000, which Alba’s family still couldn’t afford. About a week later, it was reduced to $50,000, requiring a $5,000 bond, which his family paid to get him out of jail.
Following comments from New York City Mayor Eric Adams and other local politicians, Bragg’s office filed a motion to dismiss the charges against Alba.
Source: Dailywire
