Firefighters, police, and citizens lined the road as a State police-escorted motorcade arrived in Falmouth, Massachusetts, with the body of Deputy Sherriff John Robert Kotfila Jr. on Sunday evening.
Hundreds of law enforcement officers and citizens followed the procession from Logan Airport to pay their respects to the fallen officer of the Hillsborough County Sherriff’s Department, whose cruiser was struck by a wrong-way driver in Brandon, Florida, near Tampa, on March 12.
Kotfila was a traffic crash investigator always out helping the injured, writing reports, and investigating vehicular accidents. At 1 a.m. he was working on his fifth crash of the day that involved an adult and teenager. He had driven to Tampa General Hospital to see how they were doing and was heading home around 2:45 a.m. when he died. John had worked for the sheriff’s office for six years.
Reports say the courageous officer had actually driven his patrol car into the path of a female driver headed towards the wrong-way vehicle. Hillsborough County Sherriff David Gee hailed Kotfila’s exemplary bravery and how he gave his life so that another person could live.
Deputy John Kotfila Jr. , 30, was a third-generation police officer. He is survived by his wife and 2 young daughters.
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John was a local kid and one of the good guys.
Welcome home dude. You done good. You made us proud. Rest in peace.