The New York City bodega clerk who became a national storyline last month after he stabbed and killed a man in self-defense is considering leaving the U.S., according to a report.
The New York Post reported that Jose Alba, 61, is deciding whether or not he wants to return to his home country of the Dominican Republic.
“He doesn’t work here anymore. He’s getting ready to move out of the country,” the manager of the Blue Moon convenience store told the Post.
Mr. Alba, who is a U.S. citizen, has not returned to work since the July stabbing originally saw him charged with second-degree murder and had him locked up at Rikers Island for a week.
Francisco Marte, the founder of the Bodega and Small Business Group, told the tabloid that Mr. Alba is spending time upstate because he is “afraid for his life” and to deal with the trauma of the event.
The Post had previously reported that Mr. Alba hadn’t returned to work after he made bail for fear of retaliation from the family and friends of the assailant, Austin Simon.
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Simon, 35, went behind the counter on July 1 and assaulted Mr. Alba after the clerk had denied a purchase by Simon’s girlfriend due to insufficient funds.
Surveillance video showed Simon, who had a lengthy criminal record, shoving Mr. Alba against the counter’s back shelving.
When Mr. Alba attempted to move past Simon, the ex-con grabbed the clerk by the neck, at which point Mr. Alba grabbed a knife and stabbed Simon three times.
Simon was taken to a hospital where he died of his injuries.
Surveillance video released later appeared to show Simon’s girlfriend taking a knife out and stabbing Mr. Alba soon after he had stabbed Simon.
The story made national headlines when Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg arrested and charged Mr. Alba — a man with no prior criminal record — with murder and saddled him with a $250,000 bail.
“My heart goes out for this hard-working, honest New Yorker that was doing his job in his place of business, where a person came in and went behind the counter and attacked him,” Mayor Eric Adams said.
Mr. Bragg is one of the progressive prosecutors who had their campaigns funded by George Soros and who frequently criticized over-sentencing and over-jailing.
Mr. Alba made bail on July 7 after it was lowered to $5,000. On July 19, Mr. Bragg’s office dropped the charges against Mr. Alba.
In court documents, the attorney’s office said that it “could not carry its burden at trial of disproving Alba’s defenses beyond a reasonable doubt.”
• Matt Delaney can be reached at mdelaney@washingtontimes.com.
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