“Dad, I don’t want trouble, dad,” Jose Alba, 61, calmly tells an angry Austin Simon as the man walks behind the counter of the Hamilton Heights deli, the video reveals. Video obtained by The Post reveals for the first time the words Alba and Simon exchanged before the fatal encounter that sparked a public outcry over whether the employee, who faces murder charges, was trying to defend himself. Simon, 35, stormed into the Blue Moon grocery store on July 1, five minutes after his girlfriend tried to buy a bag of chips for her daughter and her electronic benefits card was declined. The woman claimed Alba grabbed the snack from the girl. “Did you put food?” The friend can be heard in the video asking Alba about how she made the sale. “Okay, Mom, let me do it another time. Oh my God,” says Alba. “There’s money there,” he insists. The video obtained by The Post reveals for the first time the words exchanged between Jose Alba and Austin Simon. The video, which was edited, cuts to other customers and the woman yells off camera, “You can’t touch my daughter. Don’t take it from my daughter, you piece of shit!’ Alba is not seen in the footage removing the chips. The woman goes on to say, “I’m going to bring my n— down here and he’s going to fight you. My n- will come down here now and I’ll pick you up!” Alba says “It’s not my fault, it’s not working.” She continues to upsell, telling a friend’s client, “She has no money.” Another woman asked: “Did they take anything from you?” Jose Alba, who was stabbed in the attack allegedly by Simon’s girlfriend, was released from Rikers Island late Thursday. Alec Tabak for the NY Post Alba replied: “No, I take it back.” Simon is then seen entering and immediately going behind the counter. “What’s wrong with you? N—-r what’s wrong with you?” requires Alba, 51, who was in the middle of a phone call to a woman, holds out his left hand as Simon approaches him. The female customer walks up to the counter as if trying to get Simon’s attention. Austin Simon, 35, broke into the Blue Moon grocery store on July 1. The fatal stabbing was edited from the tape obtained by The Post. But previously released footage showed Simon pushing Alba into a chair before the two men began arguing and Simon was stabbed. The video shows a bloodied Simon lying on the floor of the bodega and his girlfriend yelling, “It was over $3. Three f-king bucks. He grabbed something from my daughter… please help him.” NYPD officers arrive and lead Alba away. Alba, who suffered stab wounds in the attack allegedly caused by Simon’s girlfriend, was released from Rikers Island late Thursday after prosecutors agreed to reduce his bond to $250,000. “Sorry, I’m not talking to anyone. Talk to my lawyer,” Alba said Saturday from his doorway. Francisco Marte, founder of Bodega and Small Business Group, said Alba is very sorry for what happened. “He knew his life was in danger. He was protecting himself … otherwise we would be looking to bury him today,” Marte said. Osamah Aldhabyani, 35, who owns the bodega, said Alba did not want to risk going back to work. Aldabiani said he was haunted by what happened and feared possible retaliation from Simon’s friends after he claims he saw two of them in a car outside the store. “I fear for my life,” he said.
