2 New Jersey Men Face Charges in Fabricated Carjacking

Authorities say two New Jersey men who claimed they were carjacked at gunpoint last weekend lied to cover up a drunken driving crash.

Mario Cornacchia and Travis Hattinger, both 21, told Highlands police that a man approached them shortly after they left a local pub early Sunday. The pair claimed the man then forced them to drive off, and the crash occurred a short time later in neighboring Atlantic Highlands.

Authorities soon determined the carjacking did not happen and charged both men with hindering apprehension and filing a false police report. Cornacchia, who suffered broken arm and several cuts in the accident, also was charged with drunken driving.