UPDATE: Car Hits Villas House; Knocks It from Foundation

VILLAS — Lower Township police, Villas and Erma firefighters were summoned to 102 E. Atlantic Ave. at 10:33 a.m. Wednesday, Dec. 16 after a car, with two occupants, struck the unoccupied dwelling and knocked it two to three feet from its foundation.
Police and Rescue Units immediately responded to the scene.
Once on scene, police officers and rescue personnel were able to remove the driver from the vehicle. Police officers then requested the Fire Department respond with the Jaws Unit to extricate a female passenger who was still trapped in the vehicle.
The Villas and Erma Fire Departments responded for the Jaws assignment.
Driver of the vehicle was identified as Bernard Ruckhardt, 55, of 35 E. Atlantic Avenue, Villas.
Witnesses reported that the vehicle, a green 2003 Mercury Grand Marquis was traveling westbound on East Atlantic Avenue at a high rate of speed when it crossed into the eastbound lane of travel, then left the roadway driving through a white picket fence at 100 East Atlantic Avenue, proceeded across the lawn of that property, then went through a chain
link fence before impacting the side of 102 East Atlantic Avenue.
The vehicle hit the house with enough force to knock the house approximately three (3) feet off of its foundation and cracked the foundation as well.
Officers notified the Township Construction Official, Gary Playford, who responded to the scene and determined that the damage to the residence was so substantial that the residence would be condemned and torn down, which happened later in the day.
Atlantic Electric Co. also responded and cut power to the home as a precaution.
The home is a summer residence and it’s owners were notified of the situation by Lower Township Police Chief, Edward Donohue, who was also at the scene.
The home was owned by Maryann Sachs, of Philadelphia. who told the Herald her parents had owned the house since teh Great Depression. It had been a second home to her family as they grew up, she said.
“There were so many memories there,” she added. The home was recently refurbished, she said.
Construction and Fire Officials took precautions to shore up the home before removing the vehicle, as officials feared the house would collapse upon pulling the vehicle out.
The driver of the vehicle, Bernard Ruckhardt, signed a Refusal to Treat Form from the Lower Township Rescue Squad and was then arrested by Lower Township Patrol Officer, Robert Fessler, for Driving While Intoxicated.
The female passenger, Mrs. Michelle Ruckhardt, 52, wife of the driver, was removed from the vehicle with an extrication device by Fire and Rescue Personnel and then transported to the County Airport by Lower Township Rescue Squad after which she was airlifted to the Trauma Unit of the Atlantic Care Medical Center in Atlantic City where she was
listed in stable condition with facial and hip injuries.
Bernard Ruckhardt was processed at the police department and charged with the following offenses:
Driving While Intoxicated
Reckless Driving
Assault by Auto, being a 3rd Degree Crime
Ruckhardt was transported to the Cape May County Jail with bail set at $10,000 by Municipal Court Judge, George Neidig.