A new surveillance video shows the moments before a man was fatally stabbed inside a bodega in New York City. The video has surfaced as requests for the shopkeeper who delivered the fatal punches to be exonerated of murder charges increase.
As Austin Simon, 37, approaches Jose Alba behind the counter at the Bluemoon Convenience Store in Harlem, the 61-year-old Jose Alba can be seen attempting to defuse the tense situation by saying, "I don't want a problem, papa."
NYC Bodega Worker Faces Charges Despite Acting in Self-Defense
Later, when the bodega employee is pushed into some shelves by Simon, a scuffle breaks out, and Alba stabs the victim to death. Alba was booked into the notorious Rikers Island jail on a second-degree murder accusation and was being detained there on a $250,000 bail.
His bond was reduced to $50,000 after protests from his family and the neighborhood, who claim he acted in self-defense, and he was freed from jail on Thursday.
The New York Post has received new security video that shows the original encounter between Alba and Simon's girlfriend that sparked the argument as well as the words the two men spoke before things became violent.
The incident started on July 1 about 11 p.m. when Simon's unnamed girlfriend attempted to buy a bag of chips for her daughter.
The second time the transaction fails, the discussion grows more heated and parts of it are unintelligible since they are speaking over one another. Before the woman starts ranting from somewhere else in the store, the edited video moves ahead to Alba servicing other customers.
Alba reportedly stole the bag of chips from the woman's daughter around that time, but the incident is not captured on camera. When Simon enters the store and can be heard yelling at the bodega employee to "come out, come out," the 61-year-old continues to serve customers.
Surveillance Reveals Details in NYC Bodega Incident
A client at the counter reaches her arm through and attempts to get Simon's attention in an apparent effort to defuse the tense situation. Simon's girlfriend yells something as she emerges from behind the counter. After a fight, Alba stabbed Simon in the following scene, which was omitted from the video.
Alba was aggressively shoved against the shelves in previously seen video of the physical incident, which caused Alba to recoil and fell in a chair beside the wall. Alba is pulled from his chair and away from the counter area by Simon, who is still positioned directly in front of the store employee and yelling at him. Simon then takes Alba by the back of his shirt, as per The Independent.
At that time, the bodega employee starts stabbing Simon after grabbing a knife from the shelves. The two guys struggle while much of the chaos happens behind closed doors.
The Post was able to collect video from a third camera that depicts the two men fighting and Simon's girlfriend grabbing Alba during the altercation. Simon is shown being brutally stabbed by Alba as the two men struggle. From her purse, the woman seems to pull out her own knife and stab Alba.
All of this occurs while worries about out-of-control crime in major American cities escalate and locals express their frustration. DA Chesa Boudin in San Francisco has recently been ousted by referendum in that predominantly Democratic city.
Over 700,000 signatures have just been turned in for a vote in Los Angeles to recall DA George Gascon (567,000 are needed to trigger it). DA Larry Krasner is the target of an impeachment campaign in Philadelphia, Fox News reported.
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