Township Supervisors Praise Police Work

Buckingham Township officials on Wednesday officially commended the police department for outstanding service and exemplary conduct during Hurricane Irene.

Police Chief Stephen Daniels lauded their efforts during the storm and the investigation into the death of township resident Barbara Ruehl that same night.

“I was just so impressed with what they did,” said Daniels, during an emotional tribute Wednesday night.

“I’ve been here a long time and that’s probably the worst night I’ve ever had in this police department,” he said.

Daniels gave kudos to his department for taking the initiative and doing the job that just needed to get done.

“The entire Buckingham Township staff worked extremely well under the conditions that we had,” Daniels said, including downed trees, power outages, flooding and the homicide investigation.

Ruehl died the night of Hurricane Irene, at the hand of her estranged son-in-law, Leonard J. Egland.

Police believe Egland killed his wife, Carrie, from whom he was divorcing, and her boyfriend and her boyfriend's son near Fort Lee, Virginia, on August 26. They think he then took his young daughter, Lauryn, and drove north to Pennsylvania the next day in search of Carrie's mother.

Once in Bucks County, police believe he broke into the home of Carrie's mother, Barbara S. Ruehl, and shot her. Police would find her dead hours later in her home at 3491 Church School Road in Buckingham.

From there, Egland took Lauryn to St. Luke's Hospital in Quakertown and dropped her off in the emergency room with a note.

After leading police officers from all over Bucks County on a chase through Doylestown and into Warwick, and twice shooting at police officers, Egland was found dead in Warwick Township of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Officials said Ruehl's death is only the second murder in Buckingham Township's history.

Ed Hilton, a at police with an automatic rifle, recently was honored for his service, as well.

Editor Sarah Larson contributed to this report.