Suspect In Deadly Brooklyn Hit-And-Run Surrenders In Pennsylvania

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) -- Julio Acevedo, the suspect in the hit-and-run crash that killed a young family in Brooklyn, turned himself in to officers in Bethlehem, Pa., police announced Wednesday evening.

Acevedo was arrested in the parking lot at 1100 Hellerton Road, under a previous agreement facilitated by a friend, CBS 2 reported.

"The suspect, Julio Acevedo, was taken into custody," around 5 p.m. in the parking lot of a mini-mall, NYPD Deputy Commissioner Paul Browne told WCBS 880 on Wednesday evening.

Police met the friend, Derrick Hamilton, at Grand Central Station on Wednesday, and they drove together to Pennsylvania for the surrender. Hamilton will not be charged with a crime, police said.

Under the agreement facilitated by Hamilton, Acevedo was waiting for detectives, and had been given a description of the unmarked cars they would be in. As he approached one of the vehicles, officers got out and arrested him on potential charges of leaving the scene of a vehicular accident, police said.

Acevedo was handcuffed, and made no statements as he was placed in the rear of one of the police squad cars. The officers sent to the scene included members of the Brooklyn North Violent Felony Squad and the Regional Fugitive Task Force, which included a U.S. Marshal, police said.

Acevedo was wearing a light blue hoodie, gray sweat pants with white stripes, a black knit hat and black and red sneakers as he was arrested, police said. He was taken to jail in Bethlehem.

Acevedo was arraigned by video and ordered held without bail Wednesday night, 1010 WINS reported. An extradition hearing will be held on Thursday.

If Acevedo waives his right to extradition, he could be back soon after the hearing.

"We knew of some of his movements in New York City," Browne said. "We learned of the fact that he was in Pennsylvania earlier today."

Acevedo, 44, is suspected of driving the car that killed a pregnant Brooklyn woman, her husband and ultimately their child in a wreckage-strewn crash. Members of their community offered a $15,000 reward for information leading to an arrest.

There was swift reaction from within the Hasidic Jewish community after hearing news of Acevedo's arrest.

"I personally, and the rest of the City of New York – whoever witnessed and felt what the family did – hope and pray this was the last shining day that Julio Acevedo saw as a free man," said community spokesman Isaac Abraham.

Abraham added that while the surrender "doesn't bring back the three precious lives that were lost and now he's going to have to be man enough to face the justice system, pay the consequences of the three people that during the course of the accident, caused their death."

Abraham again called on prosecutors to charge Acevedo with three counts of murder for the violent hit-and-run wreck.

"Because he left the scene of an accident, there's no specific law of penalty or serving time for leaving the scene of an accident. But in this particular case, we're asking that he be charged with homicide -- triple homicide, even of the infant," Abraham told WCBS 880.

And he did not mince words for what he thought of Acevedo and his alleged acts, CBS 2's Steve Langford reported.

"I could tell him rot in hell or rot in jail before you go to hell," Abraham said.

The friend working with officers helped broker the surrender, according to police.

"We're always happy to have the assistance of anybody in the public," Browne told WCBS 880.

Browne said the Brooklyn district attorney will determine whether additional charges will be filed against Acevedo.

Earlier Wednesday, NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly spoke to reporters after a pre-Passover briefing, in which one Williamsburg rabbi asked why the ex-con was on the street after a DWI arrest two weeks ago.

"He was released, which is not unusual. I mean, that is pretty much standard practice," Kelly said.

Police identified Acevedo as the suspected driver on Monday. They said he was going at least 60 mph early Sunday morning when a BMW he was driving collided with a livery cab carrying Nachman and Raizy Glauber at Kent Avenue and Wilson Street in Williamsburg.

Acevedo then fled the scene, police said.

Acevedo told the Daily News Tuesday that he was speeding away from a gunman who was trying to shoot at him when the wreck happened.

But Kelly said he does not believe the claim that Acevedo was in fear for his life, 1010 WINS' Stan Brooks reported.

"There are no reports of gunshots in the area at that time. There were reports in Brooklyn North, which is the borough command for us, far away from that location, and not anywhere near the time of the accident," he said.

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.

Both Nachman and Raizy Glauber were killed. Their premature son, who was delivered by emergency Cesarean section after the crash, died on Monday.

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

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

How Acevedo came to possess the BMW is under investigation. The registered owner, Takia Walker, was arrested Sunday on insurance fraud charges in a scam involving the car, police said, but the Bronx district attorney's office said Tuesday that the case was deferred. Walker was not involved in the crash.

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