Suspect arrested in crash that killed NYC expectant parents

Updated 6:53 PM ET

NEW YORK A man suspected of fleeing the scene of a grisly crash in New York City that killed a pregnant woman and her husband was arrested at a convenience store in northeastern Pennsylvania on Wednesday after a friend arranged his surrender with authorities.

Julio Acevedo, 44, 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, said Paul Browne, chief spokesman for the New York Police Department. Acevedo, wearing a hooded sweatshirt, 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 Station, then led them to Acevedo in Bethlehem, about 80 miles away, police said.

Acevedo was being held by Pennsylvania State Police and was awaiting extradition to New York. Browne said it wasn't clear when he would be returned.

• Police talk to friend of Julio Acevedo, suspect in fatal crash
• N.Y. hit-and-run suspect has lengthy criminal history
• NYPD ID's suspect in fatal Brooklyn hit-and-run crash

Acevedo was arrested last month on a charge of driving while under the influence, and that case is pending. He served about a decade in prison in the 1990s for manslaughter.

No one answered the door at Acevedo's last known address, in a public housing complex in Brooklyn. Neighbors said his mother lived in the same building, but she did not answer her door.

The Glauber's close-knit ultra-Orthodox Jewish community in Brooklyn was in mourning, only worsened following the baby's death. He weighed only about 4 pounds when he was delivered, neighbors and friends said. He died of extreme prematurity, according to the city medical examiner's office.

Isaac Abraham, a community spokesman, told WCBS 880 upon news of Acevedo's arrest: "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."

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

"The mood in the neighborhood is very heavy," said Oscar Sabel, a retired printer who lives near the scene of the accident. "We all hoped the baby would survive."

Brooklyn is home to the largest community of ultra-Orthodox Jews outside Israel, more than 250,000. The couple wed last year in a marriage arranged through a matchmaker and were living in the Williamsburg neighborhood.

They were members of the Satmar Hasidic sect, whose men dress in dark coats and hats, wear long beards like their Eastern European ancestors and have limited dealings with the outside world. 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.

Sabel, dressed in the traditional long black coat of the Satmar, said it was a terrible tragedy.

"But it's what God wants," he said. "Maybe the baby's death, and his parents', is not for nothing; God doesn't have to give us answers."

Shortly after midnight Saturday, Raizy Glauber, who was seven months pregnant, wasn't feeling well, so the couple decided to go to the hospital, said Sara Glauber, Nachman Glauber's cousin. They called a livery cab, a hired car that is arranged via telephone, not hailed off the street like a yellow cab.

The livery cab had a stop sign, but it's not clear if the driver stopped. Police 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, Abraham said.

Police said the driver of the BMW ran away.

"We in the community are demanding that the prosecutor charge the driver of BMW that caused the death of this couple and infant ... with triple homicide," Abraham said in a statement. "This coward left the scene of the accident not even bothering to check on the people of the other car."

How Acevedo came to possess the BMW is also under investigation. The registered owner, Takia Walker, was arrested on insurance fraud charges Sunday in a scam involving the car, police said. She was not involved in the crash. A telephone number registered to Walker rang unanswered.

A person familiar with the investigation said Walker bought the car legally, or allowed her identification to be used in the purchase, then gave the vehicle to a middleman who either lent or rented it out to the driver. The person was not authorized to speak publicly and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.

The driver of the livery cab, Pedro Nunez Delacruz, was knocked unconscious but was not seriously hurt. His vehicle should not have been sent to pick up the passengers because an application to use the Toyota as a livery cab had not yet been approved, the city Taxi and Limousine Commission said.