Brick Hoarding Case: Hearing Set On Prosecutor's Request To Jail Women

BRICK, NJ — A motion to revoke the pretrial release of two women charged with animal cruelty in connection with 180 dogs and cats found in unlivable conditions in a Brick Township home has been set for Jan. 31, according to the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office.

Aimee J. Lonczak and Michele Nycz are scheduled for a 10 a.m. hearing before Superior Court Judge Guy P. Ryan on the motion by Prosecutor Bradley J. Billhimer to return them to the Ocean County Jail to await trial for violations of their pretrial release conditions.

Lonczak, 50, and Nycz, 58, went to the Southern Ocean County Animal Shelter in Stafford Township on Thursday and demanded the return of seven dogs, Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer said Friday. In addition to seeking contact with animals, which the pretrial release condition barred, the two women had Lonczak's 16-year-old daughter with them, he said. Both women had been barred from contact with the girl.

The two women were arrested Dec. 3 after Brick Patrolman Scott Smith discovered Nycz's Arrowhead Park Drive home was filled with dogs and cats in feces-encrusted cages and conditions that were so bad the home was later condemned.

Superior Court Judge Wendel Daniels set the following conditions for Lonczak and Nycz at a Dec. 8 detention hearing, where he agreed to release them pending trial: they were to have no contact with animals; they were not to return to the house without written approval from the Court. In addition, Lonczak was to have no contact with her 16-year-old daughter unless authorized by the Department of Child Protection and Permanency and the Family Part of the Superior Court; and Nycz have no contact with the girl. Read more: Women Released To Await Trial In Brick Animal Hoarding Case

Lonczak and Nycz signed over their legal claims to the animals after the Dec. 8 hearing.

On Jan. 10, during a case status hearing, Lonczak and Nycz requested the return of seven dogs they said were their personal pets. Superior Court Judge Linda G. Baxter had set a hearing for Tuesday (today). That hearing was postponed to February before the women went to the shelter.

Nycz also attempted to have the no-contact order with girl lifted at the Jan. 10 hearing but Baxter denied that request, the prosecutor's office said. Read more: Women In Brick Hoarding Case Want 7 'Personal' Dogs Returned: Reports

Billhimer said management of the Southern Ocean County Animal Shelter contacted Brick police on Jan. 19 and reported that Lonczak and Nycz had been at the shelter demanding the return of their dogs. Shelter employees did not give them any dogs, he said.

The prosecutor's office and the Ocean County Health Department — which has been caring for the animals since Dec. 3 — both oppose the return.

"It is the State’s position that neither of these two defendants should ever be able to possess a pet again," Billhimer said.

"The Ocean County Board of Health also strongly opposes the return of any dogs to these two women," said Daniel Regenye, the public health coordinator for the health department.

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