Brooklyn hit-and-run suspect waives extradition from Pennsylvania

The man who surrendered to police in connection with a weekend hit-and-run accident that left an Orthodox Jewish family dead has waived extradition from Pennsylvania and will be heading back to New York to face charges, officials said on Thursday.

Julio Acevedo, 44, agreed to be returned to Brooklyn after about a 10-minute hearing before Lehigh County Court of Common Pleas Judge Kelly Banach, her spokeswoman told the Los Angeles Times by telephone.

Acevedo was returned to the county jail to await transportation back to New York City, according to a Sheriff’s Department spokeswoman.

Acevedo surrendered to police in the parking lot of a Bethlehem, Pa. convenience store on Wednesday and was ordered held without bail overnight in Lehigh County Prison on a charge of being a fugitive. The place of surrender was about 80 miles from Brooklyn, where New York police say Acevedo drove a speeding car which in the early hours of Sunday hit a livery cab carrying Nachman Glauber and his pregnant wife, Raizy.

The couple was en route to a hospital after Raizy complained she wasn’t feeling well.

Nachman Glauber was pronounced death at a Manhattan hospital. His wife was pronounced dead on arrival at another hospital. Doctors delivered their premature son by an emergency cesarean section, but he died on Monday.

At this point, Acevedo only faces charges of being a fugitive for leaving the scene of the accident. But depending on the police investigation of what happened that night, he could face other charges. A spokesman for the Brooklyn district attorney’s office told The Times on Thursday that no decision has been made yet on what charges Acevedo will face.

In Pennsylvania, Acevedo appeared in court wearing flip-flops on his feet and an orange jail jumpsuit and restraints, the spokeswoman said. He also wore a shin guard, possibly indicating that he had some sort of an injury.

The defendant said he spoke English and that he understood the proceedings, she said. Acevedo said he waived all issues, did not want a hearing on his extradition and then signed the appropriate papers.

“He said he wanted to be sent back to New York,” the spokeswoman said.

Acevedo said he lived with his mother in Brooklyn and that his last job was working in transportation, in a bus garage examining vehicles after they were returned from their time on the streets, the spokeswoman said. Acevedo apparently is not currently employed.

Acevedo did not have an attorney. Earlier in the week, a self-described friend had told various New York City media that the suspect wanted to surrender after consulting a lawyer.

Acevedo has told reporters that he was speeding because he was fleeing gunshots, but New York Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said there were no reports of shots being fired.

The Glaubers were members of the Satmar Orthodox Jewish group, prominent in Brooklyn.

A spokesman for the group has said they want Acevedo charged with three counts of murder.

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