Suspect in Custody in Connection With Hit-Run That Killed Couple, Baby: Police

A suspect is in custody in connection with the hit-and-run crash that killed a pregnant woman, her husband and ultimately their child, an NYPD spokesman confirms to NBC 4 New York.

Julio Acevedo was taken into custody at a convenience store in Pennsylvania on Wednesday after a friend arranged his surrender. 

Acevedo walked to officers waiting in cars in the parking lot in Bethlehem, Pa., and was arrested on charges of leaving the scene of an accident, New York Police Department spokesman Paul Browne said. Acevedo said nothing to officers who took him into custody, Browne said.

The surrender, which occurred shortly after 5 p.m., was brokered by a friend who had been in touch with police earlier in the day. The friend met officers at New York's Grand Central Terminal and then led them to Acevedo in Bethlehem, about 80 miles away, police said.

Acevedo, 44, was ordered held without bail late Wednesday during a video hearing. A judge said Acevedo would be held overnight in Lehigh County Prison while awaiting an extradition hearing Thursday to address his return to New York, said The Express Times newspaper, of Easton, Pa.

It was unclear if Acevedo had an attorney. The friend had told police that Acevedo would surrender after consulting a lawyer, but none was with him when he turned himself in, Browne said.

The ultra-Orthodox Jewish community that had been mourning the expectant couple and their baby welcomed the news that Acevedo had been arrested.

Isaac Abraham, a spokesman for the Hasidic Jewish community, said, "I personally, and I'm sure whoever witnessed or felt along with the family, hope and pray this was the last shiny day that Julio Acevedo saw as a free man." 

Police believe Acevedo was driving the speeding BMW that slammed into a livery cab carrying Nachman and Raizy Glauber, both 21. They died Sunday and their child died on Monday.

Raizy Glauber, who was seven months pregnant, decided to go to the hospital because she wasn't feeling well, her family said. They called a livery cab.

The crash with the BMW reduced the cab to a crumpled heap, and Raizy Glauber was thrown from the wreck. The engine ended up in the back seat. The driver of the livery cab was knocked unconscious but was not seriously hurt.

The child was delivered by cesarean section after his parents were killed. The baby weighed only about 4 pounds when he was delivered, neighbors and friends said. He died of extreme prematurity, the city medical examiner's office said.

The baby was buried Monday near his parents' graves, according to a spokesman for the Hasidic Jewish community. About a thousand community members turned out for the young couple's funeral a day earlier.

"A loss like that cannot be replaced by having him arrested or by surrendering, no matter what charges will be brought against him," said Abraham. 

Acevedo, 44, was arrested last month on a charge of driving while under the influence, and the case is pending. He was stopped by police after they said he was driving erratically around 3 a.m. Feb. 17. He had a blood-alcohol level of .13, over the limit of .08, police said.

He served about a decade in prison in the 1990s for manslaughter after he was convicted of shooting Kelvin Martin, a Brooklyn criminal whose moniker "50 Cent" was the inspiration for rapper Curtis Jackson's stage name.

How Acevedo came to possess the BMW is under investigation. The registered owner was arrested Sunday on insurance fraud charges related to the vehicle, but the case was deferred.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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