NIGHTMARE: Julio Acevedo in custody in Bethlehem, Pa., last night for the deaths of Raizy and Nachman Glauber (inset left) and their newborn. (AP)
The cowardly driver who fled a high-speed crash that killed a young Brooklyn family finally surrendered to authorities in Pennsylvania last night, ending a four-day manhunt.
Julio Acevedo, 44, was picked up at 5:10 p.m. in the parking lot of the Turkey Hill Mini Mart in Bethlehem, where he had arranged through a friend to meet NYPD cops and US marshals.
Acevedo, wearing a blue zip-up hoodie, sweat pants and sneakers, gave up without incident and was cuffed by Brooklyn Detective Arthur Molnar.
“His demeanor was calm,” said NYPD spokesman Paul Browne. “He knew this moment was coming because we arranged it in advance.”
Acevedo was taken to a nearby state police barracks, where he was being held without bail on a charge of being a fugitive. He will appear before a local judge in an extradition hearing today.
He did not make any statements to police.
Acevedo’s pal Derrick Hamilton arranged the surrender, and rode with cops from Grand Central Terminal to Bethlehem, where, a law-enforcement source said, Acevedo has a relative.
The ex-con had been on the run since early Sunday, when he crashed a pal’s BMW into a livery cab carrying expectant couple Nachman and Raizel ‘Raizy’ Glauber as they headed to a Cobble Hill hospital. The couple died Sunday, and their newborn boy, who was delivered by Caesarean section, died the next day.
Acevedo has said he had no idea that the crash was fatal, and claimed he was fleeing a gunman when he T-boned the cab while going twice the speed limit.
Acevedo’s extensive rap sheet includes the 1987 shooting death of the man who inspired rapper 50 Cent’s name. He was also collared last month for DWI.
“He was a coward,” community leader Isaac Abraham said outside the 90th Precinct station house in Brooklyn last night.
“He left the scene which caused the death of Mr. and Mrs. Glauber and their infant baby.”
Raizy’s uncle, Rabbi Moshe Silberstein, said the victim’s parents were happy about the arrest, but questioned why Acevedo was on the streets in the first place.
“They’re relieved in a way, but they can’t be relieved, because losing a child — losing three children — is a thing that can be healed only by God,” he said.
“We’re happy that this guy was caught. If he was locked up last time while he was driving while intoxicated, after he was sitting in jail for manslaughter, these three people would have still lived.”
Rabbi David Niederman, president of United Jewish Organizations of Williamsburg, publicly called out Commissioner Ray Kelly yesterday morning.
He later praised cops for making the arrest.
Additional reporting by Rebecca Harshbarger and Dan Macleod