Suspect in hit and run that killed family returned to Brooklyn

The man sought in connection with a tragic hit-and-run accident that ended the lives of a Brooklyn family of Orthodox Jews has returned to New York after surrendering to officials in Pennsylvania.

Julio Acevedo, 44, arrived in Brooklyn in the afternoon after waiving extradition. He was being held in Brooklyn pending arraignment, perhaps as soon as Thursday night, a spokesman for the Brooklyn district attorney’s office told the Los Angeles Times by telephone.

Still to be decided are exactly what charges Acevedo will face, the spokesman said. At this point, Acevedo has been accused of leaving the scene of the accident, but could face more serious charges depending on how police reconstruct what happened Sunday.

“The investigation is continuing,” the spokesman for the prosecutor’s office said.

According to police, Nachman Glauber and his pregnant wife, Raizy, both 21, were traveling by livery taxi car early Sunday to a hospital after the woman had complained of pains. They had called for a livery cab, which is summoned by telephone rather trying to find a cab cruising the streets at that hour.

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Police said the livery cab, a black 2008 Toyota Camry, was traveling west on Wilson Street when it was struck on the driver’s side by the 2010 BMW, which was going north on Kent.

The livery car was at a stop sign, but it was unclear whether it had stopped. The BMW was moving at more than 60 mph, police said.

Nachman Glauber was taken to a Manhattan hospital, where he was pronounced dead. His wife, who was about seven months pregnant, was taken to Bellevue in Manhattan and was pronounced dead on arrival. Doctors performed an emergency Cesarean section and delivered a boy, who died Monday morning, officials said.

The official causes of death were all related to the blunt force trauma of the car crash, complicated in the baby’s case by being born prematurely.

Acevedo is believed to have been behind the wheel of the BMW. In interviews with New York news media, Acevedo said he was fleeing gunshots, but New York Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly has said there are no reports of any shots in that area of Brooklyn.

New York police said Acevedo was convicted of manslaughter in 1987, along with drug and robbery charges. After serving 10 years, he was sent back to jail for a parole violation, then released in 1999.

The Glaubers were members of the Satmar Orthodox Jewish group, a prominent community in Brooklyn. Isaac Abraham, a spokesman for the group, has demanded that the driver of the BMW be punished.

“We in the community are demanding that the prosecutor charge the driver of the BMW that caused the death of this couple and infant … with triple homicide,” Abraham said in a statement this week. “This coward left the scene of the accident not even bothering to check on the people of the other car.”

Acevedo on Thursday morning appeared in a Pennsylvania court and waived any hearing, saying he was eager to return to New York, according to a court spokeswoman. He had surrendered Wednesday night.

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