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PENNSVILLE TWP. — Police Chief Bruce Maahs who rose through the ranks from patrolman to head the Pennsville Police Department, died suddenly this morning.
He was 50.
The chief died at home of an apparent heart attack, authorities said. Medics were summoned to his Pennsville home at 8:06 a.m. today and found him in cardiac arrest. They attempted to revive him, but he was pronounced dead at 8:13 a.m.
Maahs began his tenure as chief on Feb. 1, 2009, succeeding Patrick McCaffery in the post.
A native of Pennsville, he graduated from Pennsville Memorial High School in 1981 and attended Gloucester County College earning an associate’s degree in Criminal Justice in 1983.
In 1984 he was hired as a Pennsville Police Department dispatcher and in 1985 as a patrolman on the police force.
In 1999 he was promoted to sergeant, according to the police department’s website and in May 2006 the rank of lieutenant before being selected by the township committee as chief of police.
Maahs also coached track and field at Pennsville Memorial High School.
His involvement with the student athletes was important to Maahs.
“It's great for community relations and lets people see we are involved in other things than police work,” said Maahs of his coaching duties.
Maahs’ death is the second of a sitting chief to rock Salem County in less than a year and a half.
On Nov. 30, 2011, Carneys Point Police Chief Edmund Spinelli Jr. died suddenly at his home of a heart ailment. He ws only 45.
Funeral arrangements for Maahs are pending.
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