Man accused of DWI in deadly crash also charged 3 weeks earlier … with DWI

READINGTON — The 23-year-old man accused of driving drunk in a head-on collision that killed two grandparents and injured their son and two grandchildren on Easter weekend had been pulled over and charged with drunk driving just three weeks earlier.

Frank Cabezas was charged March 26 with killing Flemington residents Frank Corso, 79, and his wife, Audrey Corso, 75, after plowing his SUV into their Toyota Camry.

At the time of the crash, Cabezas already had several drug convictions on his record and five driver’s license suspensions, including two for underage drinking and driving, New Jersey 101.5 reported this week.

And just three weeks before the crash, on March 7, Readington police pulled over Cabezas and charged him with driving while intoxicated.

Cabezas was pulled over on Cornelius Lane, just a half mile from his home, according to police records obtained by New Jersey 101.5 under the state Open Public Records Act. Police declined to release further details on the incident.

Also this year, he was found guilty of careless driving on Jan. 29 and was charged with possession of under 50 grams of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia during a motor vehicle stop in Readington on Feb. 22.

Cabezas made his first appearance Monday in Superior Court in Flemington on two counts of second-degree death by auto and three counts of fourth-degree assault. His $250,000 bail was revoked by the judge as a result of his probation, NJ Advance Media reported.

Hunterdon County authorities say the Corso family was on the way home from an Easter Egg hunt Friday when Cabezas’s Ford Explorer struck their Toyota Camry head-on on Route 523 in Readington.

Gregory Corso, 43, of Budd Lake, was hospitalized at Morristown Medical Center with minor injuries. His 5-year-old son, Matthew, who was in a booster in the back seat, was treated and released from the same hospital. Marissa, 10, had to be flown by helicopter to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick and be treated with a possibly broken femur.

A New Jersey 101.5 review of state motor vehicle records revealed the following infractions of which Cabezas was found guilty:

• March 21, 2010: Driving after underage drinking. This led to a suspension of 30 days effective June 7 of that year.
• Nov. 13, 2011: Failure to observe a traffic control device.
• Jan. 30, 2012: Speeding.
• Aug. 8, 2012: Refusal to submit to a chemical test and driving after underage drinking. This resulted in consecutive suspensions of 210 and 30 days, effective Jan. 7, 2013.
• Dec. 29, 2012: Failure to appear. This resulted in an indefinite suspension until the matter was resolved. Motor vehicle records to not indicate the underlying offense.
• Nov. 12, 2012: Speeding.
• Jan. 14, 2014: Failure to comply with a mandated drug or alcohol program. This resulted in an indefinite suspension until the matter was resolved.
• January 29, 2016: Careless driving.

His criminal record included a March 2012 charge of threatening to kill someone, which was later heard in Readingon Municipal Court; July 2012 charges of criminal attempt and theft by deception, which also were sent down to Municipal Court; and a 2014 conviction on a July 2013 charge of marijuana possession over 50 grams, for which he received two years of probation.

Sergio Bichao is deputy digital editor at New Jersey 101.5. Send him news tips at sergio.bichao@townsquaremedia.com. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook