Hit-and-Run Suspect Ready to Give Himself Up

BY RACHEL SILBERSTEIN

The repeat offender suspected of killing a young Hasidic couple and their unborn child in a hit-and-run accident was poised on Tuesday to turn himself in to police, according to many news reports.

Police said that Julio Acevedo, 44, who has a history of drunk driving and once spent ten years in prison on a manslaughter rap, was driving a BMW on Sunday at over 60 mph when he rammed into a livery cab carrying 21-year-old expecting parents Nathan and Raizy Glauber as they were on their way to the hospital for the baby to be bor

A friend of Acevedo arranged a phone call between Acevedo and the Daily News in which he was reported to have said that he was fleeing from a gunman when he struck the cab. He said he fled the scene because he was afraid of being killed and did not know that the couple had died until he saw the news.

The couple’s tight-knit Satmar Hasidic community of Williamsburg was still reeling from the news.

“Unfortunately we can’t bring them back, but he (Acevedo) definitely has to get what he deserves,” said Rivky S., a school principal who declined to give her last name “This is on the forefront of everyone’s minds; we are in unbearable pain. They were in their prime, at such a beautiful time of their lives.”

The couple’s unborn child was delivered on the scene and survived, but died Monday. The livery cab driver survived with minor injuries.

State senator Eric Adams and assemblyman David Weprin on Monday demanded tougher penalties for hit-and-run accidents that result in a fatality.  Deadly drivers should be charged with a felony rather than a misdemeanor for leaving the scene, the legislators said.

Lawmakers are also calling for improved safety measures at the intersection, including traffic signals and cameras.