Man Pleads Guilty To Killing Founder Of Warren's First Pharmacy

WARREN, NJ — A Lavallette man has pleaded guilty to hitting and killing a well-known, beloved pharmacist from Warren in 2019 while driving high on a mix of drugs, 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.

Fondly referred to as "Tom," "TC,"or "Mr. C" Castronovo and his family's legacy has left a heavy imprint throughout the Warren community. Castronovo's father, Frank, was also a pharmacist who opened his first drug store in 1926 on Houston Street in New York City before the family moved from Brooklyn to Watchung.

Following in his father's footsteps, Castronovo went to and graduated from Fordham University's College of Pharmacy in 1958. In 1961 Castronovo married his wife, Mary Ann and in 1962 he founded and opened Warren's first pharmacy called Edgewood Pharmacy. In 1966, Tom and Mary Ann moved to Warren.

Edgewood Pharmacy provided everything from TV tubes to ice cream and also served as the local post office.

In 1987 Castronovo's son, Steven, became the third generation of pharmacists and continues to run the pharmacy.

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.