NEW YORK -- A man suspected of fleeing the scene of a grisly crash in New York City that killed a pregnant Orthodox Jewish woman and her husband was arrested in another state Wednesday after a friend arranged his surrender with authorities.

Julio Acevedo, 44, was arrested on charges of leaving the scene of an accident, said Paul Browne, chief spokesman for the New York Police Department.

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, about 80 miles (120 kilometres) away in the state of Pennsylvania.

Acevedo allegedly was speeding down a Brooklyn street in a BMW at 60 mph (100 kph) early Sunday when he collided with a car carrying Nachman and Raizy Glauber, both 21. They died Sunday, and their premature son died Monday.

The couple belonged to a close-knit ultra-Orthodox Jewish community in Brooklyn, which is home to the largest community of ultra-Orthodox Jews outside Israel, more than 250,000. They were members of the Satmar Hasidic sect. 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.

Acevedo told the Daily News that he was fleeing a gunman who was trying to shoot at him when his borrowed speeding BMW slammed into a hired car carrying the couple. He told the newspaper he fled because he was worried he'd be killed, and said he didn't know the couple had died until he saw it in the news. But police said there were no reports of shots fired in the area at the time of the wreck.

Acevedo was arrested last month on a charge of driving while under the influence, and the case is pending. He was stopped by police after they said he was driving erratically around 3 a.m. Feb. 17. He had a blood-alcohol level of .13, over the limit of .08, police said.

He served about a decade in prison in the 1990s for manslaughter after he was convicted of shooting Kelvin Martin, a Brooklyn criminal whose moniker "50 Cent" was the inspiration for rapper Curtis Jackson's current stage name.

It wasn't clear if Acevedo had an attorney. The friend had told police that Acevedo would surrender after consulting a lawyer, but none was with him when he turned himself in, Browne said.