Man charged in N.Y. hit-and-run that killed couple, baby

Julio Acevedo is taken from the 78th precinct in the Brooklyn borough of New York, Thursday, March 7, 2013. / AP Photo/Louis Lanzano

Updated 4:15 a.m. EST March 8, 2013

NEW YORK A man arrested in connection with a car crash that killed a rabbinical college student, his pregnant wife and their baby was charged with criminally negligent homicide and other offenses.

Julio Acevedo was arraigned Thursday night in state Supreme Court in Brooklyn and ordered held without bail. His wife and young daughter were in the courtroom along with other family members and friends.

Acevedo also was charged with three counts of assault and leaving the scene of an accident, reckless driving and excessive speed. Judge Stephen Antignani suspended his driver's license.

Acevedo, 44, was accused of barreling down a Brooklyn street at 60 mph early Sunday and crashing into a hired car carrying Nachman and Raizy Glauber, who were on their way to a hospital.

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The car that had been carrying them had a stop sign, though it's unclear whether the driver stopped. The driver was knocked unconscious.

The Glaubers, both 21, died Sunday. Their son, delivered by cesarean section, died Monday.

Acevedo's attorney, Kathleen Julian, called the deaths horrendous, but said no crime was committed. "It was an accident. Accidents happen every day," she said.

She said her client, who surrendered to police Wednesday in Pennsylvania, always intended to turn himself in.

"He's obviously heartbroken about what happened," Julian said. "He feels terrible for the family."

At the arraignment, Assistant District Attorney Gayle Dampf said two witnesses who have positively identified Acevedo as the motorist who struck the hired car saw him drive "around a fire truck then accelerate and plow into a car."

"They approached him," Dampf said. "He said he was fine."

Dampf said the witnesses went to check on the victims and then "they then turned around and the defendant was gone."

Earlier Thursday, police released a statement saying they had charged Acevedo with one count of vehicular manslaughter, among other charges.

Jonah Bruno, a spokesman for the district attorney's office, declined to say why prosecutors charged Acevedo with criminally negligent homicide rather than the manslaughter count.

Antignani granted an order of protection to the livery driver who was involved in the accident. When the judge asked Acevedo, dressed in a white T-Shirt, light blue hooded sweat shirt black sneakers, if he understood the order of protection, he responded "yes."

It was not immediately clear why the judge issued the protection order.

Acevedo's next court appearance is March 13. He faces a minimum of 15 years to life in prison if convicted on the more serious charges.

Acevedo arrived in New York on Thursday after agreeing to be returned from Pennsylvania, where he had surrendered to police in the parking lot of a Bethlehem convenience store a day earlier.

At an appearance in Pennsylvania, Acevedo told Judge Kelly Banach that he had finished the 11th grade, was unemployed and lives in Brooklyn with his mother.

His surrender was brokered by a friend who had been in touch with police earlier Wednesday. The friend met officers at New York's Grand Central Terminal and led them to Acevedo in Bethlehem, about 80 miles away, police said. The friend had told police that Acevedo would surrender after consulting an attorney, but there wasn't one with him when he turned himself in, police said.

Acevedo told the Daily News of New York that he was fleeing a gunman who was trying to shoot at him when his borrowed BMW slammed into the Glaubers' hired car. He told the newspaper he fled because he was worried he would be killed. But police said there were no reports of shots fired in the area at the time of the wreck.

The couple belonged to a close-knit ultra-Orthodox Jewish community in Brooklyn, which is home to the largest community of ultra-Orthodox Jews outside Israel, more than 250,000. They were members of the Satmar Hasidic sect.

[nyinjuryattorney]

TMONT/ICETROUT, You're mistaken. New York's Vehicle and Traffic Law specifically sets the rules for who has the right of way. There is no such term as "the right of direction", it's meaningless. If the livery driver disobeyed the stop sign, he failed to yield to the other car which had the right of way as a matter of law. BUT, accidents can have more than one cause and violation of a traffic law e.g. failing to yield, while proof of negligence does not mean the other driver wasn't negligent too and it doesn't mean he didn't also cause the accident.
Regards.

[420greg]

If he stayed at the scene there would probably be nothing more that some traffic citations. The crime here is leaving the scene.

[ammo17]

this undocumemnted immigrant was allowed to break our laws,why wasn`t he deported last year when he was caught drunken drivng.three american are dead and our president and janet napolitano want to release people like this into our society.somebody or politicians have to be held accountable for these murders.

[bilrobi1]

I didn't see anything here that said he was undocumented. Not all Hispanics are illegal.Would you feel better if the guy was blond haired and blue eyed. I don't think the the victims would care.

[twmat311]

The right-of-way situation may give this an awful twist - I know of many accidents where the vehicle hit was judged at fault since they had a stop sign, or were turning left across traffic. Acevedo may have exceeded the speed limit, but that's a separate issue - someone will determine if the cab driver had clear vision to see an oncoming car, speeding or not.

[BludApfel]

I'm tired of hearing the excuse "accidents happen."

There are very few accidents - almost all injuries or deaths are through gross negligence.

If you are driving you need to be held accountable for the suffering you cause - not just via losing a license or increased insurance premiums - but by mandatory jail time when injuries are permanent and prison time if death occurs.

It's time to stop excusing these deaths and injuries as "just accidents."