Toms River man charged in dog drowning to hire a lawyer

28-year-old Andrew Mayer, owner of the dog that drowned in a pickup truck that plunged through the frozen Toms River last March is expected to hire a lawyer.

Mayer, a Toms River resident, was in Ocean County Superior Court on Tuesday with Bradley Billhimer, the attorney he's expected to hire to represent him on charges of criminal mischief and animal cruelty, according to the Asbury Park Press.

Judge James M. Blaney adjourned the case again until February 1. The case had been adjourned before to give Mayer time to reconsider representing himself due to the seriousness of the charges.

Mayer allegedly was doing doughnuts with his truck, when it broke through the ice with his pet dog Rolo inside. Mayer and a passenger escaped unharmed, but did not immediately report the incident to police.

The incident prompted a massive response from emergency workers who thought there were people inside the sunken truck.