Ventura deputy struck by car, killed during traffic stop

CAMARILLO, Calif. (KABC) -- A Ventura County sheriff's deputy was killed after another driver crashed into him while the deputy was conducting a traffic stop early Tuesday morning.

The Ventura County Sheriff's Department identified the deputy as 41-year-old Eugene Kostiuchenko.

Officials say Kostiuchenko had pulled over a driver on a routine traffic stop on the northbound 101 Freeway at Lewis Road at around 1:15 a.m.

After that driver was released, officials said Kostiuchenko was walking back to his patrol vehicle when he was side-swiped by another car. Two other deputies, who had come to back him up on his traffic stop, were sitting in a patrol car and witnessed the entire incident.

"When I got the call that we had lost one of our deputies in the line of duty, your heart sinks, and you have a job to do," said Sgt. Denise Sliva with the Ventura County Sheriff's Department.

Deputies said the driver sped off heading north on the 101 Freeway but eventually crashed his small sedan near Las Posas Road. The suspect, identified as 25-year-old Kevin Hogrefe of Camarillo, was booked on felony driving under the influence, hit-and-run and vehicular manslaughter. He is being held in lieu of $150,000 bail and is due in court on Thursday.

"This deputy was out doing what he swore to do, what he took an oath to do, and he was killed by a DUI driver," said CHP Officer Steven Reid. "I think the thing that we can sort of emphasize with the Halloween holiday coming up and in general - don't drink and drive."

Kostiuchenko was an 11-year veteran with the Ventura County Sheriff's Department. He was assigned to patrol Camarillo but also worked assignments in the Sheriff's Office of Emergency Services and in Detention Services during his career.

He was known for his sense of humor and his work ethic. Kostiuchenko leaves behind his wife, two step-children and a department now forced to come together to pull through their grief.

"A lot of them are still at our station, just being with each other. The deputies don't even want to go home because they just need to be with each other," Sliva said.

The northbound 101 Freeway on-ramp and off-ramp at Lewis Road and the northbound 101 Freeway off-ramp at Las Posas Road were closed for investigation. Daily Drive between Lewis and Arneill roads and Daily Drive at Glen were also shut.

The California Highway Patrol is handling the investigation.

The last deputy in Ventura County to die in the line of duty passed away in 1997. He was also killed by an impaired driver.