BRICK, NJ — A Brick Township man has been indicted in connection with the killing of five geese that were run over in a Toms River parking lot in 2019.

Quintin Alec-Manning, 21, of Brick, was indicted Wednesday on five counts of third-degree animal cruelty, Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer said Thursday. Third-degree animal cruelty, where cruelty results in the death of an animal, carries the possibility of up to 5 years in jail.

Alec-Manning is accused of running over a family of Canada geese in the parking lot at the Indian Head Plaza in Toms River on May 29, 2019.

Toms River police were told a driver had deliberately hit the geese and had driven off. Alec-Manning was arrested the next day and charged with killing the geese, police said at the time. In addition to the five counts of animal cruelty, Alec-Manning received 15 summonses from the state Department of Environmental Protection in June 2019:

Five counts of 23:4-16.a: "Did kill wildlife with the aid of a motor vehicle"

Five counts of 23:4-12: "Did take geese in manner other than prescribed"

Five counts of 23:4-1: "Did take geese during closed hunting season." Patch has contacted the DEP to find out the status of those summonses. Canada geese are federally protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, which protects migratory birds under agreements with various nations, including Canada. Under the act, the federal government has set regulations that make it illegal to take, possess, import, export, transport, sell, purchase, barter, or offer for sale, purchase, or barter, any migratory bird, or the parts, nests, or eggs of such a bird except under the terms of a valid federal permit, according to a Taft Law report.

Penalties for killing the geese can range up to six months in jail and include fines; a Manasquan man was fined $1,000 in 2009 for shooting and killing a Canada goose that was pooping on his deck, NJ.com reported.

Billhimer praised "the good old-fashioned police work of the Toms River Police Department and Ocean County Sheriff's Office Crime Scene Investigation Unit for their combined efforts in swiftly solving this heinous crime."

