Joseph Albathe Dominican warehouse employee “Blue Moon Convenience Store” located in the Harlem area of Upper Manhattan, accused of stabbing a client who assaulted him while he was working, is currently in prison and has been a bond of 250 thousand dollars to release him.
For its part, the Winemakers Association of America (UBA) assured that they will defend the employee, who acted in self-defense.
The president of UBA, spoke with Diario Libre about the events, and said that they as an association will defend the employee, and is making a collection to help him pay the cost of the bail.
“For us that is self-defense. You immediately invade my privacy, and you come with these intentions and I am going to defend myself in the best way I can. We are willing to fight with this, we are going to defend him, we are going to help him… we understand that he does not deserve that, he should not even be in prison right now,” Rodríguez said.
He also said that next week they will call a protest at the attorney general’s office
“It is assumed and you can see in the video that it was in self-defense, because the client entered behind the counter and you can see when he insults and pushes the man… and it seems that the man felt scared and grabbed a knife and defended himself. ”, he expressed.
The incident occurred last Friday, July 1, when the employee Jose Alba, 51 years old, when an unidentified woman entered the warehouse with a child to buy chips. Police said the woman didn’t have enough cash for the snack and instead she stormed out of the store and called a man, who came to the back of the counter and assaulted the clerk.
The video shows the customer apparently yelling at the winemaker and pushing him away. Then he takes out a dagger, stabbing him several times that caused his death.
The victim was identified as 37-year-old Austin Simon, who was taken to Harlem Hospital after the incident, where he eventually died.
Police told winemakers to try to defend themselves
When questioned about the criminal acts that occur around the warehouses, Radhamés says that they have lost hope with the police authorities and elected officials, with whom they have rarely met and have presented their concerns.
“When we met with the police chief a short time ago, he himself told us to really try to stand up for ourselves, because there wasn’t much hope on their part. The same police chief. This is a bit of an uphill climb for us,” he commented, assuring that they have already exhausted all possible resources.
“We have to work and act with great caution because most of these crimes that happen are with the same people who live in the community where our businesses are located. And you are not going to get in trouble with the son of a client of yours,” she said.
“We are working very uncomfortable, work is tedious anyway, and add to that the uncertainty of not knowing who is going to rob you or who is going to grab a pack of beer and bring it to you. Powerlessness kills you,” he continued.
He said that criminals often go looking for trouble and when they threaten to call the police they continue because they know they will not come.
“Remember that most wineries are run by families. My wife works in mine, my son who is 20 years old works, my daughter works. Sometimes they enter with incomplete money or that they do not have to pay, and they start hitting the counter, on the windows and one gives it to them or tries to prevent it from reaching the worst consequences, ”he concluded.