Reward raised for driver who fled deadly hit-and-run in Brooklyn

The reward for the man wanted in connection with the tragic hit-and-run accident in an Orthodox Jewish community in Brooklyn has risen to $12,000, police said on Tuesday, as authorities searched for the man who fled the scene where a family was killed.

“The reward has risen to $12,000,” Sgt. Lee Jones told the Los Angeles Times by telephone. “We are searching and still seeking the suspect, Julio Acevedo.”

Acevedo, 44, is wanted in connection with the traffic accident in the early hours of Sunday in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn, home to the largest community of the Satmar Orthodox Jewish sect outside of Israel. The borough’s community also has ties to another Satmar community in suburban Rockland County.

According to police, Nachman Glauber and his pregnant wife, Raizy, both 21, were traveling by livery taxi car to a hospital after Raizy had complained of pains. They had called for a livery cab, which is summoned by telephone rather trying to find a yellow cab cruising the streets at that hour.

Police said the livery cab, a black 2008 Toyota Camry, was traveling west on Wilson Street when it was struck on the driver’s side by the 2010 BMW, which had been going north on Kent.

The livery car was at a stop sign, but it was unclear if it had stopped. The BMW was moving quickly, at more than 60 mph, police said.

Nachman Glauber was taken to a Manhattan hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Raizy, who was about seven months pregnant, was taken to Bellevue in Manhattan and was pronounced dead on arrival. Doctors performed an emergency caesarean section and delivered a baby boy, who died Monday morning, according to officials.

The causes of death were all related to the blunt force trauma from the car crash, complicated in the baby’s case by being born prematurely.

The driver of the BMW fled and was later identified as Acevedo, who was arrested last month on a charge of driving while under the influence. The case is pending, police said.

Police said Acevedo 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, then released in 1999. His last known address was in Brooklyn.

The driver of the livery cab, Pedro Nunez Delacruz, was treated for minor injuries.

The baby was buried on Monday near the new graves of his parents, according to Isaac Abraham, a spokesman for the Hasidic Jewish community. About 1,000 Satmar Jews attended the Glaubers’ funeral on Sunday.

“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 prepared statement. “This coward left the scene of the accident not even bothering to check on the people of the other car.”

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