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Tuesday, August 13, 2024

The Nachman and Raizy Glauber Hit-And-Run Case

     Nachman and Raizy Glauber were members of the ultra-Orthodox Satmar Hasidic Jewish community in the Williamsville section of Brooklyn, New York. He was studying to become a rabbi and she worked at a hardware distribution store. The 21-year-olds had been married a year, paired by a matchmaker. Raizy was seven months pregnant with their first child.

     On Saturday, March 2, 2013 Raizy became worried because she could no longer feel the baby. The couple didn't own a car so Nachman called a car service to drive them to Long Island College Hospital. Around midnight Pedro Nunez Delacruz arrived at the Glauber apartment in his livery vehicle. The couple climbed into the back seat of his black 2008 Toyota Camry. Raizy was seated behind the driver.

     A few minutes after being picked up by Delacruz, the livery car, while moving through a Brooklyn intersection was struck by a 2010 gray BMW traveling 60 miles per hour. Ejected from the livery cab Raizy's body came to rest beneath a parked tractor-trailer. Nachman was left pinned inside the crushed Toyota. (The Toyota's engine ended up in the back seat where Raizy Glauber had been sitting.)

     Following the collision the driver of the BMW, 44-year-old Julio Acevedo, climbed out of the sedan and sat on the curb to collect himself. A few minutes later he returned to the mangled BMW and helped a female passenger out of the car. Acevedo and his companion walked away from the crash, disappearing into the gathering crowd.

     Raizy Glauber, who spoke to paramedics, died in the ambulance as it sped to Bellevue Hospital in Manhattan. Pronounced dead on arrival, doctors delivered her baby by cesarean. The premature baby was born alive.

     Doctors pronounced Nachman Glauber dead on arrival at Manhattan's Beth Israel Hospital.

     The next day a spokesperson for the New York Medical Examiner's Office announced that the Glaubers had been killed by blunt-force trauma. At 5:30 on the morning of the crash the baby died from the same cause.

     The livery car driver, 32-year-old Pedro Delacruz, was released from Bellevue Hospital on Monday, March 4 2013 after being treated for minor injuries. In the meantime New York City detectives had learned that the BMW was registered to a resident of the Bronx named Takia Walker. The 29-year-old told detectives that Julio Acevedo had borrowed the vehicle from a mutual friend who had possession of her car. She said she had never met Acevedo.

    Julio Acevedo had a long history of crime and incarceration. He had spent eight years in prison after being convicted of manslaughter in connection with the death of a Brooklyn hood named Kelvin Martin. Martin was the original "50 Cent," the inspiration for the rapper of the same name.

      Once out of prison Mr. Acevedo continued to run afoul of the law. Police on various occasions arrested him for such crimes as robbery, reckless endangerment and possession of a weapon. On February 17, 2013 officers pulled Acevedo over in Brooklyn for driving erratically in a 1997 BMW bearing Pennsylvania plates. With an alcohol blood content level of .13, the officers charged the ex-con with driving under the influence. Acevedo told the arresting officers that he had consumed a couple of beers at a baby shower. The next day, following his arraignment, the judge released Acevedo with a court appearance scheduled for April 10, 2013.

     Acevedo's last known address was in a Brooklyn public housing project where his mother resided. One of his friends told reporters that the hit-and-run suspect wanted to turn himself in because "he has remorse." A reward of $15,000 was offered for information leading to his arrest.

     Isaac Abraham, a spokesman for the Orthodox Jewish community, called for the maximum punishment for Acevedo. "We in the community are demanding that the prosecutor charge the driver of the BMW that caused the death of this couple and infant with triple homicide. This coward left the scene of the accident, not even bothering to check on the people in the car."

     On Tuesday, March 5, 2013 Julio Acevedo, while hiding from the police, spoke to a reporter with the Daily News of New York. According to the fugitive, just before the accident he had been speeding away from a gunman who was trying to kill him. Acevedo said he had met with a lawyer who was arranging his surrender to the authorities.

     Acevedo, on Wednesday evening, March 6, 2013 turned himself in to police officers in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. He approached the officers as they sat in their cars in front of a convenience store. The next day Mr. Acevedo, charged with negligent homicide, three counts of assault, leaving the scene of an accident and reckless driving was arraigned in a Brooklyn court. Judge Stephen Antignani suspended his drivers license and denied him bail. The suspect's wife and young daughter were in the court room with him.

     In July 2013 the New York City Department of Transportation installed a traffic light at the Brooklyn intersection where the Glaubers had been killed.

     A jury sitting in Brooklyn, in April 2015 found Julio Acevedo guilty as charged. Judge Neil Firetog sentenced him to 25 years to life. According to the judge, Acevedo had "forfeited his right to be a part of our community."

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