Lavallette Man Gets Jail Term in Vehicular Homicide Case

Brian Kosanke (Photo: Ocean County Jail)

A Lavallette man will spend eight years in jail after admitting to a an accident which killed a man on Route 35 North.

Brian Kosanke, 41, previously entered guilty plea to vehicular homicide and was sentenced Feb. 4 by Superior Court Judge Michael T. Collins. Collins also sentenced Kosanke to eighteen months in state prison as a result of a previously entered guilty plea to hindering apprehension; the two sentences will run concurrently.

Kosanke was also sentenced to 30 days imprisonment, along with a three-month loss of his driving privileges and installation of an ignition interlock device in the motor vehicle he principally operates for one year – following the completion of his state prison sentence – as a result of a drunk driving conviction.

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Kosanke pled guilty to all charges before Judge Collins on Nov. 18, 2021

According to authorities, Lavallette police were called to Route 35 North and Guyer Avenue for a report of a pedestrian with serious injuries having been struck by a motor vehicle on the night of the accident. Lifesaving measures were administered to the victim, Thomas Castronovo, 80, of Warren, Somerset County, by first responders at the scene; he was thereafter transported to Community Medical Center in Toms River, where he ultimately succumbed to his injuries.

An investigation revealed that Kosanke was traveling northbound on Route 35 when he struck Castronovo as he was crossing at Guyer Avenue. Kosanke agreed to submit to a blood sample and was transported to the hospital to provide it, police said. The results of the blood sample revealed that Kosanke was under the influence of Xanax, cocaine, fentanyl and gabapentin when he struck Castronovo.

Prosecutors had sought an eight-year prison term.