Taxi Driver behind wheel in fatal B'klyn crash that killed Orthodox couple visits grieving family

The livery driver who was behind the wheel during the hit-and-run wreck that killed a young couple and their newborn made an emotional visit to the grieving family of his passengers today -- after saying that he likely won't ever drive a cab again.

"He explained to them how sad and sorry he was about the circumstances, how he wished he would have died instead of the young couple, how he has a wife who's pregnant and three children," said Fernando Mateo, president of the New York State Federation of Taxi Drivers, who went with Pedro Nunez Delacruz.

 

Delacruz was driving Nachman and Riezy Glauber from their house to a Cobble Hill hospital because of a pregnancy complication when Julio Acevedes T-boned the car at 60 mph, cops said.

The family, who has been sitting shiva since Sunday, doesn’t blame him, Mateo said.

"They told him, 'Go on with your life. This was meant to be. This is what God wanted," Mateo said. "This is what our religion tells us. And you have no culpability in what happened.'"

"They expressed that they're people of faith and people who understand that God has a plan for everyone. And the plan was that he remained alive and that [God] took [the couple], and that there's nothing we can do about that."

Delacruz had to fight back tears, he said.

"If you start breaking down, then everybody breaks down."

Earlier, the driver said he was traumatized by the accident, and likely would not drive a cab again.

The driver said he doesn't remember anything about the accident -- and that the last thing he recalls is calling his wife before he picked up the Glaubers.

"I don't even remember picking up the passengers. I only remember the address," he said.

The next thing he remembered was riding in the ambulance to Bellevue.

"The first thing I did when I got to the hospital was tell the nurse I wanted to make a phone call to my wife."

The driver of 10 years said “I don't think I did anything wrong.

"I know the area. I know every street.”

The father of three said he was shattered by the thought of the deaths.

"I think about another family, how they can deal with it," he said. "I have a 3-year-old baby, and when I see him running around at home, I've got to cry."

Delacruz was glad the driver was behind bars.

"The best decision he could have made was turning himself in to the police.

"It's better that he stays in jail. In jail, he can't cause more damage."            






NY POST