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Florida deputy killed in crash to be laid to rest today

John Kotfila
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FALMOUTH, Mass.  - A Florida sheriff's deputy killed in an on-duty traffic crash is being laid to rest in his Massachusetts hometown.

A funeral Mass for Hillsborough County Sheriff's Deputy John Robert Kotfila Jr. is scheduled for Wednesday at St. Patrick's Church in Falmouth.

Hundreds of police officers paid their final respects at Tuesday's wake.

Authorities say Kotfila Jr. had just left a hospital March 12 where he had been working on an investigation into a crash when his vehicle was hit head-on by a wrong-way driver in Brandon, Florida, near Tampa. The other driver, who was drunk at the time, also died.

Kotfila's father is a Massachusetts State Police sergeant and one of his brothers is a Falmouth police officer. His grandfather was also a state trooper.