-Jasmine Dyer-
Cousins!
A Manhattan bodega employee is facing murder charges for allegedly fatally stabbing a customer during an altercation over potato chips in which he claims self defense!
The violent incident occurred at the Hamilton Heights Grocery Store on Broadway last Friday night after a woman came into the store with her 10-year-old daughter, trying to purchase potato chips with her food stamp card.
Prosecutors said when the woman’s card declined, bodega worker Jose Alba, 51, reached over the counter, grabbed her hand, and yanked the chips away.
According to Blaze Media, the irritated mother stormed out of the bodega and contacted her boyfriend, Austin Simons, 37, who soon entered the store and proceeded to get into a verbal dispute with Alba. Video surveillance footage shows Simons going behind the counter and shoving Alba into merchandise shelves, where he slid down into a chair.
Seconds after, Simon grabbed Alba by his shirt collar and pulled him up. Alba quickly rises, reaches for a knife hidden behind the counter, and stabs Simon in the neck and chest at least three times.
Graphic Video Shows NYC Bodega Clerk Stabbing Customer To Death!!!
“He wanted me to come apologize to the girl,” Alba told a New York City police detective, according to the Daily News. “I took the knife we use to open boxes, and I stabbed him.”
During the altercation, Simon’s girlfriend grabbed a knife from her purse and stabbed Alba. In the graphic video, Alba is seen observing the stab wound on his left arm.
Austin Simons was rushed to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Alba was arrested and charged with second-degree murder and criminal possession of a weapon last Saturday. Alba faces 25 years to life if convicted.
Jose Alba and his employer Ahmad claim that he acted out of self-defense due to Simon pushing him first. But, investigators believe that Alba and Simon were “equally involved in the conflict.”
According to Pix 11within a recent update, a judge has reduced his previously set $250,000 bail to $50,000 Thursday following public outcry.
Cousins, what are your thoughts on this?