Metro

Mayor Adams suggests woman accused of stabbing bodega clerk should be charged

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Published July 12, 2022
Updated July 12, 2022, 5:51 p.m. ET

Mayor Eric Adams suggested Tuesday that the girlfriend of the man killed while attacking Manhattan bodega worker Jose Alba should be charged for stabbing the clerk during the fracas. 

Adams, appearing at an unrelated press conference in Manhattan, was asked about a newly surfaced video that shows the apparent moment Alba was slashed himself while fighting off and stabbing Martin Simon, 35, who attacked him after the clerk got into an argument with his girlfriend. 

The footage appears to show Simon’s girlfriend pulling a knife from her purse and stabbing the worker as he fatally attacked her boyfriend. 

Adams acknowledged that he hadn’t yet seen the video but said people who violate the law should be held accountable. 

“Anyone who carries out an assault of any nature should be held accountable for it. So, if in that video it is determined that she broke the law, I believe that the law must be enforced. But the district attorney makes the final outcome,” Adams said. 

“My job is to continue to stand up and support these hardworking New Yorkers that should not be the victims of aggressive behavior.”

Mayor Eric Adams makes street safety-related announcement with the Hudson Street BID on Tuesday, July 12, 2022.
Mayor Eric Adams suggested that the girlfriend of the man killed while attacking Manhattan bodega worker Jose Alba should be charged for stabbing the clerk. Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office

Simon’s girlfriend, whose name The Post is withholding, has not been charged in the case and denied to police that she stabbed Alba. 

Police sources said the woman hasn’t been charged since prosecutors felt her actions were justified because she was defending her boyfriend. The move has enraged Alba’s supporters, who say he should never have been charged in the killing himself because it was clearly a case of self-defense.

Adams — who has stood up for Alba — said he had a “brief conversation” with Bragg during a town-hall meeting on crime in Harlem on Monday night but refused to go into detail when asked about their discussion.

Video of Jose Alba and Austin Simon feuding.
The footage appears to show Martin Simon’s girlfriend pulling a knife from her purse and stabbing Alba as he fatally attacked her boyfriend.

“We had a conversation about the case, and you know I’m not going to go into the private conversations,” Adams told reporters.

“I shared my thoughts, he shared his thoughts, but justice should be served here, and I am hoping that it is.”