Lavallette Man Pleads Guilty To Driving High, Killing Pedestrian

Toms River NJ

18 November, 2021

7:01 PM

Description

TOMS RIVER, NJ — A Lavallette man has pleaded guilty to hitting and killing a man in 2019 on Route 35 when he was driving while high on a mix of drugs including cocaine and fentanyl, the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office announced Thursday. Brian Kosanke, 41, of pleaded guilty Thursday to vehicular homicide, hindering apprehension or prosecution, and driving while intoxicated before Ocean County Superior Court Judge Michael T. Collins, First Assistant Prosecutor Michael T. Nolan Jr. said. Kosanke was driving north on Route 35 in Lavallette about 6:30 p.m. on Oct. 19, 2019, when he hit Thomas Castronovo, 80, of Warren, as he crossed the road at Guyer Avenue, authorities said. First responders tried to save Castronovo's life but he died of his injuries at Community Medical Center in Toms River. Kosanke agreed to submit to a blood sample and was taken to the hospital for the draw; the results showed he was under the influence of Xanax, cocaine, fentanyl and gabapentin when he hit Castronovo. Kosanke was arrested Nov. 7 and has been held in the Ocean County Jail since then. Kosanke is scheduled to be sentenced Jan. 21, and Nolan said prosecutors will be seeking a term of 8 years in prison subject to the No Early Release Act, on the vehicular homicide charge, and 18 months in prison on the hindering charge, with the sentences to run concurrently. Supervising Assistant Prosecutor Patrick Sheehan and Senior Assistant Prosecutor Jamie Schron are handling the case on behalf of the state. The Ocean County Prosecutor's Office Vehicular Homicide Unit, Lavallette Police Department, and Ocean County Sheriff's Office Crime Scene Investigation Unit investigated. Have a news tip? Email [email protected] Follow Toms River Patch on Facebook.