Road Naming Ceremony for Slain Officers Curtis and Kocab Set for Aug. 8

Residents gathered last summer at the Big Belly Burgers in Brandon to support a benefit for the family members of slain Tampa police officers David Curtis and Jeffrey A. Kocab.

Today, at 9 a.m., residents from throughout Hillsborough County and beyond had been invited to to a road designation ceremony at the Pepin Hospitality Center at 4121 North 50th St. in Tampa.

They'll be gathered at the Aug. 8 ceremony "to honor the service of these brave men near the area of North 50th Street that will be named after" Curtis and Kocab, according to a release from the Florida Department of Transportation.

Parking will be provided near the east entrance of the Pepin Hospitality Center and members of the public are invited.

The officers were fatally shot June 29, 2010 in the line of duty after what seemed to be a routine traffic stop.

"It just makes you realize there's no such thing as a routine thing in law enforcement," Jim Surrusco told MyPaperNow.com at the June 2010 fundraiser in Brandon. "It was just a simple car stop. You never know who you're going to pull over."

According to the city's accounting of events, the shootings occurred on June 29, 2010 at 2:15 a.m., after Curtis moved to pull over a vehicle with no license plate at Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. and 50th Street. The driver eventually pulled over at 50th Street and 23rd Avenue. Curtis called for backup and Kocab responded after Curtis realized the passenger was wanted in Jacksonville on a worthless check warrant.

Records show "the next communication came from a citizen calling 911 to report two officers were shot." Responding paramedics transported both officers to Tampa General Hospital, where Kocab was pronounced dead shortly after arrival to the hospital and Curtis, who was put on life support, was pronounced dead later that morning.

Curtis, 31, served three years and eight months on the force and leaves behind a wife and four sons between the ages eight months and nine years. Before becoming a police officer, Curtis was a jail deputy with the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office.

Kocab, 31, had nearly 14 months on the force and died one week shy of the expected delivery of his first child. Kocab served with the Plant City Police Department before becoming a Tampa patrol officer.