Brooklyn Hit-and-Run Update: Julio Acevedo, suspect in fatal Brooklyn crash, yet to surrender, police say
(CBS/AP) NEW YORK - New York City police said Wednesday that they heard no word from the man suspected in the hit-and-run collision that killed a pregnant woman, her husband and their newborn child even though the suspect reportedly said he planned to surrender.
Police worked through the night searching for 44-year-old Julio Acevedo as a $15,000 reward was set out for his arrest. Police said Tuesday they had no contact with Acevedo, although a friend said he planned to turn himself in.
"We are still looking to apprehend him," police spokesman Paul Browne said. "We have no information that he is going to surrender."
Acevedo told the New York Daily News on Tuesday that he was speeding away from a gunman who was trying to shoot at him early Sunday when he collided into a livery cab in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn.
The car was carrying Nachman and Raizy Glauber, both 21. They died Sunday and their premature son died on Monday.
Members of the couple's Hasidic Jewish community offered a $15,000 reward for information leading to Acevedo's capture. They also called for murder charges to be filed.
Acevedo told the Daily News that he fled the scene because he was worried he'd be killed and didn't know that the couple died until he saw it in newspapers.
"My heart goes out to them," Acevedo told the newspaper Tuesday in a phone call arranged by a friend, Derrick Hamilton. "I didn't know they died until I saw the news.
Hamilton said Acevedo was running for his life after the crash, and called it a terrible accident. He told The Associated Press that Acevedo was meeting with a lawyer and that they were going to arrange for Acevedo to turn himself in.
Police said Acevedo was in a BMW going at least 60 mph when he crashed. The hired car had a stop sign, but it's not clear if the driver stopped.
Meanwhile, 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.
Acevedo also 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 current stage name.
Raizy Glauber, who was seven months pregnant, wasn't feeling well early Sunday, so the couple decided to go to the hospital, relatives said. They called a livery cab because they did not own a car.
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 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. Raizy Glauber grew up in a prominent rabbinical family. Her husband was studying at a rabbinical college; his family founded a line of clothing for Orthodox Jews.
How Acevedo came to possess the BMW is under investigation. Police said the registered owner, Takia Walker, was arrested Sunday on insurance fraud charges in a scam involving the car. But the Bronx district attorney's office said Tuesday that the case was deferred. Walker was not involved in the crash.