Thug brutally beats older, smaller deli worker — and keeps kicking victim's bloody face even after he's motionless on floor



A male was caught on surveillance video brutally beating a much older and significantly smaller deli worker in New York City earlier this month — and the clip actually shows the attacker continuing to kick the victim's bloody face even after he's motionless and crumpled on the floor, apparently out cold.

You can view surveillance video of the attack at the Queens deli here. The deeply disturbing clip shows the attacker punching the victim at least 11 times — and kicking him in the face and head at least 13 times.

Police added to the New York Post that the suspect — heavily tattooed with skulls and a heart and the word 'KILLER' in all capital letters — has 25 prior arrests, mostly for robbery.

Perhaps worst of all is that after the attacker's third kick, the victim appeared motionless and unconscious; so the final 10 kicks to the victim's progressively bloody face likely happened after he was already out cold and totally defenseless.

The victim's son told WABC-TV last week that his father was in critical condition at Elmhurst Hospital with internal brain bleeding and a fractured face; the son added to the station that "there's a certain part of his bones that are detached from a very important part of his face."

The brutal assault took place June 17 around 11:20 p.m. at the shop on 64th Street and Broadway in the neighborhood of Woodside, WABC said, adding that it boiled over after the victim confronted the attacker who bumped into him.

Nearby residents told the station they recognize the suspect, who sports green hair in the video.

"Once you mentioned the green hair I knew I saw him because everybody looks at him. Everybody crosses the street when they see him. He's weird. He's definitely weird," one resident noted to WABC.

Another resident added to the station that the suspect frequently talks to himself and comes out at night.

The victim's son told WABC his dad is a "genuinely nice guy."

"He's kind of old fashioned where he talks to random strangers," he told the station of his father. "I know it sounds cliche, but he is the type of person to help out like a random person."

Suspect arrested

Police on Wednesday arrested a suspect after a standoff with police, authorities told amNY.

The outlet, citing police, reported that 29-year-old Osvel Diaz of Forest Hills attempted to shave his green hair to give law enforcement the slip.

According to amNY, the victim in the attack is 62 years old — and the outlet noted that it all went down at the Sunnyside Mini Market. The outlet said the victim's condition — initially critical — has improved slightly.

Detectives and the NYPD Warrant Squad tracked down Diaz at his home on 62nd Drive, amNY said, adding that he allegedly put up a fight.

More from the outlet:

Sources familiar with the investigation said that Diaz briefly barricaded himself inside the home along with a three-week-old baby. Following a brief standoff, however, police were able to take him into custody and rescue the tot, who was not injured.

Detectives escorted a handcuffed Diaz out of the 108th Precinct in Long Island City on Thursday morning. He refused to answer questions hurled at him by journalists before being loaded into a waiting police car en route to Queens Criminal Court for his arraignment.

Diaz is charged with attempted murder, assault, and endangering the welfare of a child, amNY reported.

Police added to the New York Post that the suspect — heavily tattooed with skulls and a heart and the word “KILLER” in all capital letters — has 25 prior arrests, mostly for robbery.

More from the Post:

Diaz’s most recent bust before this one was for a broad-daylight assault of a UPS driver on Sept. 1, 2023 in Astoria, according to a complaint filed in Queens Criminal Court.

He is accused of throwing a metal canister at the driver’s side window of the truck — shattering it — before getting out and bashing the motorist in the head with the container, according to the court doc.

Diaz pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct and was granted a conditional discharge in that case, according to the Queens DA’s Office.

He was required to complete six days of an anger management course as part of the plea agreement, prosecutors said.

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All charges dropped against 61-year-old NYC deli worker Jose Alba who fatally stabbed bigger, younger attacker



The office of Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg on Tuesday morning dropped all charges against 61-year-old deli worker Jose Alba who fatally stabbed an attacker earlier this month, the New York Times reported.

What are the details?

Bragg's office charged Alba with second-degree murder and criminal possession of a weapon and sent him to notorious Rikers Island prison despite video that shows a much larger and younger man — 35-year-old Austin Simon — going behind the counter of a Harlem deli July 1 and physically attacking Alba who works there.

In fact, additional video shows Alba pleading with an angry Simon, "I don't want a problem" before Simon aggressively shoved Alba into store shelves and grabbed him by the neck.

Image source: TeaTenders video screenshot

Image source: TeaTenders video screenshot

Simon was incensed that Alba took potato chips away from the 10-year-old daughter of Simon's girlfriend whose benefits card failed to work in the transaction.

'Homicide case ... could not be proven'

Bragg's office was intensely criticized for Alba's murder charge, his stint on Rikers, and the $250,000 bail Alba would have to raise to get out. One of Alba's defenders was Democratic New York City Mayor Eric Adams, who called Alba "innocent."

Soon, Alba was released on a reduced $50,000 bail and maintained he was defending himself against Simon. Pressure mounted daily against Bragg's office to drop charges against Alba as the investigation continued.

Finally, the district attorney’s office said “a homicide case against Alba could not be proven at trial beyond a reasonable doubt" as part of a motion to dismiss the case filed Tuesday morning, the Times said. The case won't be presented to a grand jury, the paper added.

Here's video of attack and stabbing.

Content warning: Graphic video:

Simon was an ex-con on parole

The New York Post reported that Simon was on parole for assaulting a cop at the time of the deadly encounter in the Harlem bodega. State corrections records show Simon served prison time on a second-degree assault conviction for attacking the officer before he was paroled last year, the Post added.

In addition, the paper — citing sources and records — said Simon was busted at least eight times on charges ranging from assault and robbery to assault during a domestic dispute.

The New York Daily News — citing the criminal complaint — added that Simon’s girlfriend grabbed a knife from her purse and stabbed Alba in the arm during the bodega attack.

Police sources said Alba was stabbed during the assault but that Simon's girlfriend denied to police that she stabbed Alba, the Post said in a separate story. Alba's lawyer said during his arraignment that Simon’s girlfriend stabbed Alba three times in the shoulder and hand, the Post added.

New Video Shows Girlfriend Stab NYC Bodega Worker After Confrontation Turned Deadly | News 4 Nowyoutu.be

How did Simon's family react to the dropped charges?

The Times added that Simon’s family spoke with the district attorney’s office Tuesday morning and criticized the decision. Simon's cousin Candra Simon said "we are all clearly disappointed and can’t understand how it’s OK to take an unarmed man’s life. This decision sets a dangerous precedent," the paper reported.

NYC deli worker Jose Alba released from Rikers Island after being charged with murdering ex-con who attacked him in store



Jose Alba — the New York City deli worker charged with murdering an ex-con who physically attacked him last week in what many are calling a clear case of self-defense — was released Thursday from notorious Rikers Island prison on reduced bail.

What are the details?

After first setting Alba's bail at $250,000, prosecutors said they negotiated a new bail package with Alba’s lawyer and asked Judge Jonathan Svetkey to reduce it to $50,000, the New York Post reported.

The paper said prosecutors claimed Alba was a flight risk because of a planned trip to the Dominican Republic next week.

While out on bail, Alba must wear an ankle bracelet, must surrender his passport, and can't leave New York City, the Post reported, adding that Assistant District Attorney Jennifer Sigall said the bail terms “will ensure the fact that the defendant will not go to the DR as he planned to.”

Alba — a native of the Dominican Republic — came to America about 30 years ago and became a citizen 14 years ago, the Post added.

“He has every intention to return to court and defend this case,” Alba’s attorney, Danielle Jackson of Neighborhood Defender Service of Harlem, said in Manhattan Criminal Court, according to the paper.

Prosecutors will present the case to a grand jury on July 20, the Post said.

What's the background?

A woman tried to use a benefits card to buy potato chips for her 10-year-old daughter around 11 p.m. Friday at the Bluemoon Convenient Store in Harlem on Broadway near West 139th Street, the New York Daily News reported.

The transaction was declined, the Daily News said, citing the criminal complaint.

Amid an argument, prosecutors said Alba reached over the counter, grabbed the girl’s hand, and yanked the chips away, the Daily News reported.

Alba's boss — deli owner Maad Ahmad — told the Daily News the mom became enraged: “The lady threw everything from the counter and the [benefits card reader] machine, too. She said, ‘I’m going to get my man, and he’s going to get you.’”

The mother then came back inside the deli with Austin Simon, who got behind the store's counter to confront Alba, the Daily News said.

Security video shows Simon shoving Alba into product shelves, after which Alba — sporting a baseball cap, glasses, and a white mustache and beard — appears to slide down the shelves into a seated position.

Image source: TeaTenders video screenshot

The Daily News said Simon actually shoved Alba hard into a chair that hit the merchandise shelves.

“Jose said ... ‘I don’t want any problems,’” deli owner Ahmad recounted to the Daily News.

Simon then grabs Alba by the neck, pulls him up, and begins to walk him out of the area behind the counter.

Image source: TeaTenders video screenshot

With that, Alba grabs a knife that the paper said was stashed behind the counter and starts fighting back.

“He wanted me to come apologize to the girl,” Alba told a New York City police detective, according to the Daily News. “I took the knife we use to open boxes, and I stabbed him.”

Image source: TeaTenders video screenshot

The Daily News — citing the criminal complaint — added that Simon’s girlfriend grabbed a knife from her purse and stabbed Alba in the arm.

Video shows Alba checking out what appears to be stab wound on his bloody left arm.

Image source: TeaTenders video screenshot

Here's security video of the fight. Content warning: Graphic video.

EMS crews took Simon to Harlem Hospital, where he was pronounced dead, WNBC-TV reported.

Alba was arraigned Saturday on a second-degree murder charge, the Daily News said. He also was charged with criminal possession of a weapon, police told WNBC.

'Jose Alba should be getting a Congressional Medal of Honor'

The Post reported that Guardian Angels founder and former mayoral candidate Curtis Sliwa said Thursday outside the courtroom that "Jose Alba should be getting a Congressional Medal of Honor. Instead, he’s locked up on Rikers and this is all [Manhattan District Attorney] Alvin Bragg. He turns loose real criminals, and he incarcerates victims who fight back. What kind of a message is this?”

Mark Bederow, a former Manhattan prosecutor, added to the Post: “I don’t think a grand jury would indict [Alba] for murder in the second degree, and I don’t think a jury would convict him beyond a reasonable doubt given what the justification statute states,” which refers to self-defense arguments.

'Murdered in cold blood'

The Post said Simon’s family exited Thursday's hearing in tears, with his sister saying Simon “was murdered in cold blood.”

“If the shoe was on the other foot, my brother wouldn’t have gotten bail or bond or nothing,” she added, according to the paper.

Tina Lee, who said she has three children with Simon, called him “a good man” and a “good father” who took “good care” of all his children, the Post noted.

A separate Post story reported that Simon was on parole at the time of last week's deadly incident for assaulting a cop. State corrections records show Simon served prison time on a second-degree assault conviction for attacking the officer before he was paroled last year, the Post added.

In addition, the paper — citing sources and records — said Simon was busted at least eight times on charges ranging from assault, robbery, and assault during a domestic dispute.