The Manhattan bodega worker charged with murder after fighting a violent ex-con in his store over the weekend was finally home Thursday night after being released on bail.
Jose Alba, 61, arrived at his Hamilton Heights apartment around 8:30 p.m. wearing an electronic monitor, hours after a Manhattan judge agreed to lower his sky-high bail from $250,000 to $50,000.
Alba, who was accompanied by one of his sons, covered his face and refused to answer questions as he entered.
Before his release, Alba was incarcerated on Rikers Island on an assassination attempt for his fatal meeting with Austin Simon, 35, Friday night at the Hamilton Heights bodega where he works.
Relatives and Alba’s boss paid $5,000 it took to put him on bail.
As part of his release deal, Alba is also banned from leaving New York City and had to surrender his passport so he won’t go to the Dominican Republic on a previously planned trip.
Alba was working at the Hamilton Heights Grocery on Broadway when he was attacked by Simon, a career criminal with a history of violence who stormed behind the counter and pushed him into a wall, the video shows.
The ex-con grabbed Alba as the frightened clerk tried to get past him – he grabbed a knife and stabbed it into Simon at least five times.
According to his lawyer, Simon’s girlfriend also pulled a knife from her bag and stabbed Alba three times in the shoulder and hand. She has not been charged, with the prosecution only saying, “we are continuing to review the evidence and the investigation is underway.”
Alba can be seen in the footage bleeding from his stab wounds and holding his knife as he waits for the police to arrive – only to arrest him and take him into custody.