Victory! DMV Reinstates Italia Pizza Owner’s Wrongly Suspended License After Bean Report

We got a call last night from Mimma Careri, owner of Gravesend’s Italia Pizza and Restaurant (307 Kings Highway), who told us that just days after we published a report about her son’s wrongly-suspended driver’s license, the DMV reinstated his driving privileges.

“From your piece, my son was able to get his license back in less than a week,” Careri told Bensonhurst Bean. “It was huge.”

Her son, Saverino Careri, who helps run this business, managing the counter and – when he had his driving privileges – making deliveries, was the victim of identity theft more than a year ago. Careri’s problems started after another man named Anthony Cabrera began racking up moving violations using the pizzeria owner’s recovered drivers license. When Cabrera was arrested on a DWI charge and gave Careri’s name, authorities released him before receiving the results of his fingerprint identification, according to Careri’s mother Mimma, which would have nailed him as an ID thief and saved Careri a headache.

Instead, Careri later learned that his license was suspended. In the spring, his license was restored after a court hearing – but no one informed the Department of Motor Vehicles, and Careri said the Brooklyn District Attorney’s office was dragging their feet.

But after our report – which was later picked up by the Daily News – the DA contacted DMV officials, who cleared Careri’s record on Wednesday. Now he can finally drive that Mercedes he signed a lease for just before the ordeal kicked off. He can also resume making deliveries for his family business, easing some of the strain on the long-standing neighborhood pizzeria.

“It feels great,” Mimma Careri told us about the news. “We’re very, very excited. Me and my son are very happy it’s all over with and he can finally drive.”