Procession held for Massachusetts native killed in line of duty

A Florida sheriff’s deputy killed in a head-in crash with a wrong-way driver has returned to Massachusetts, where he will be laid to rest this week.Watch reportLocal police and firefighters lined Route 3 South Sunday afternoon to pay their respects as a State Police-escorted motorcade for Florida Deputy Sheriff John Robert Kotfila Jr. and family made its way to Falmouth, The Patriot Ledger reported.Police, firefighters and EMTs, stood in salute at overpasses and atop fire trucks at locations from Quincy to the Cape. A State Police helicopter flew overhead. Deputy John Kotfila, Jr., a Falmouth native, was a six-year member of the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office.Investigators say Kotfila, Jr. had just left a traffic crash investigation when he and the wrong-way driver collided on March 12.Kotfila "was the little brother you couldn't help but love," said Deputy Cale Parsons of the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office, according to ABC affiliate WFTS. "There was nothing about him to dislike. He was there for you when you needed him."Kotfila came from a family of law enforcement officers. His father, John Kotfila Sr., is a Massachusetts State Police sergeant and was a former Falmouth police officer.Kotfila's wake will be held Tuesday from 4 to 8 p,m, at the Chapman Cole & Gleason Funeral Home on Main Street in Falmouth. A funeral mass will be held at St. Patrick’s Roman Catholic Church on Wednesday at 11 a.m. Get the WCVB News App

A Florida sheriff’s deputy killed in a head-in crash with a wrong-way driver has returned to Massachusetts, where he will be laid to rest this week.



Watch report

Local police and firefighters lined Route 3 South Sunday afternoon to pay their respects as a State Police-escorted motorcade for Florida Deputy Sheriff John Robert Kotfila Jr. and family made its way to Falmouth, The Patriot Ledger reported.



Police, firefighters and EMTs, stood in salute at overpasses and atop fire trucks at locations from Quincy to the Cape. A State Police helicopter flew overhead.

Deputy John Kotfila, Jr., a Falmouth native, was a six-year member of the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office.



Investigators say Kotfila, Jr. had just left a traffic crash investigation when he and the wrong-way driver collided on March 12.



Kotfila "was the little brother you couldn't help but love," said Deputy Cale Parsons of the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office, according to ABC affiliate WFTS. "There was nothing about him to dislike. He was there for you when you needed him."



Kotfila came from a family of law enforcement officers. His father, John Kotfila Sr., is a Massachusetts State Police sergeant and was a former Falmouth police officer.



Kotfila's wake will be held Tuesday from 4 to 8 p,m, at the Chapman Cole & Gleason Funeral Home on Main Street in Falmouth. A funeral mass will be held at St. Patrick’s Roman Catholic Church on Wednesday at 11 a.m.











