Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Murdered Cop Worked in Plant City: blogpost July 14th, 2010


Two Tampa cops, Jeffrey Kocab and Dave Curtis, were shot to death at the corner of 50th Street and 34th Avenue last month during what was supposed to have been a routine traffic stop of a car with a missing tag. One of the dead police officers, Jeff Kocab, had a Plant City connection. Jeff Kocab was Plant City Police Department's officer of the year in 2007, his first full year as a cop. I don't know why he transferred (looking for more pay?) but Jeff Kocab joined the Tampa department about 14 months ago. Apparently Kocab liked cars and martial arts. His family went to church in Plant City. His wife Sara is nine months pregnant.

Here's how the police say the shooting went down: First, Officer Curtis on patrol around 2am on a Tuesday morning pulled over a red Camry occupied by Dontae Morris, 24, and Cortnee Nicole Brantley, 22. Curtis discovered Morris was wanted on a misdemeanor warrant and called in Kocab as backup. Shortly after Kocab arrived Morris pulled a gun and shot the two cops (the cops never even pulled their weapons). Both cops sustained fatal head wounds. But they didn't die immediately. Curtis held on until the hospital. According to witnesses, the cops lay with arms linked until help arrived. The shooter turned himself in a few days later.

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