Opinion | When Public Disorder Reigns

Mr. Alba then allegedly stabbed and killed Simon. Mr. Alba’s son told the New York Post that “at that moment he was in fear for his life.” The Post describes Simon as a “career criminal on parole for assaulting a police officer.”

Mr. Alba waited at the bodega for police to arrive. Mr. Bragg’s office charged him with second-degree murder and initially requested $250,000 bail. That was lowered to $50,000 after a public outcry. Mr. Alba has been released with an ankle bracelet from New York’s notorious Rikers Island jail after putting up 10%. Three unidentified benefactors guaranteed the remainder.

Mr. Alba has not entered a plea. The Neighborhood Defender Service of Harlem, which is representing him, said in a statement that “the video in this case speaks for itself: Mr. Alba was simply doing his job when he was aggressively cornered by a much younger and bigger man.” The group says Mr. Alba is 61, but the New York State Unified Court System lists his birth year as 1970.

A spokesperson for Mr. Bragg told the local

CBS

affiliate Friday that “we are continuing to review the evidence and the investigation is ongoing.” But the second-degree murder charge, which typically carries a prison sentence of 15 to 25 years in New York, looks like the prosecutor’s draconian attempt to set an example to others who might try to defend themselves as crime rises in the city.

In 2021 homicides in New York rose 53% and felony assaults rose 10% compared with 2019, according to police data. Bodegas are prime targets.

In May a robber bashed a 54-year-old Staten Island bodega worker in the head with a glass bottle and choked him until he blacked out. In January assailants attacked two employees at a Bronx bodega and left one in critical condition; one worker was stabbed, while another was pistol-whipped, according to the New York Post. That month a man flashed a meat cleaver at a Queens bodega worker who tried to stop him from stealing beer. There are many other cases.

Mr. Alba’s saga is what happens when lawlessness becomes pervasive, criminals expect impunity, and innocents believe police won’t arrive in time to help. People start to defend themselves any way they can, as they have a right to do, often with tragic results.