By Marjorie Hernandez
Ventura County Star
VENTURA COUNTY, Calif. — A wrongful death lawsuit has been filed against the Camarillo man convicted of murder last month in the DUI death of a Ventura County sheriff’s deputy.
Maura Kelley, the widow of Deputy Yevhen “Eugene” Kostiuchenko, filed the suit against Kevin Hogrefe, claiming negligence. She is seeking an undisclosed amount for “compensatory damages” and legal fees.
Hogrefe remains at Todd Road Jail in Santa Paula. He is scheduled to be sentenced for the criminal charges Nov. 14.
A jury in October found Hogrefe guilty of second-degree murder and felony fleeing the scene after he struck and killed Kostiuchenko on Oct. 28, 2014. Senior Deputy District Attorney Rebecca Day argued Hogrefe was intoxicated when he hit Kostiuchenko with his vehicle. The deputy was struck while walking back to his patrol car after an unrelated traffic stop on the shoulder of Highway 101 near Lewis Road in Camarillo.
According to court records, Hogrefe’s blood-alcohol level was 0.23 percent about two hours after the crash. The legal limit is 0.08 percent.
The civil suit, which was also filed on behalf of Kostiuchenko’s stepson, said Hogrefe had been drinking beer at the Club House Sports Bar and Grill and then Take Five Cocktails, both in Camarillo, before getting into his vehicle.
“Defendant Hogrefe admitted to consuming a minimum six Coors Light beers and two Indian IPA beers in the time leading up to the incident in which he struck and killed Kostiuchenko with his vehicle,” wrote Chris Kroes, Kelley’s attorney, in the complaint. “The impact of the accident forced Kostiuchenko onto the hood and then the windshield and right A-pillar of (Hogrefe’s car). He was then propelled in a northernly direction approximately 126 feet before he came to rest on the right shoulder. Kostiuchenko sustained injuries that resulted in his immediate death.”
Deputies found Hogrefe sitting inside his car after he drove into a field of ice plants next to the Las Posas Road exit ramp, more than a mile north of the crash.
In the amended complaint filed Oct. 24, Kroes wrote that Hogrefe was negligent and acted with “willful” malice because the Camarillo man had previously been charged in a 2013 drunken-driving accident.
“It’s just a tragic and horrible situation and something that never should’ve happened because this fellow had problems with drunk driving before,” Kroes said Monday. “There is no amount of money that could compensate her for the loss of her husband ... and she would rather have him back, but she also felt this was the right thing to do. Drunk driving only causes havoc and pain.”
According to court records, Hogrefe was served the summons on the civil complaint on Oct. 28 at Todd Road Jail.
Hogrefe, 27, faces 19 years to life in state prison when he is sentenced by Ventura County Superior Court Judge Matthew Guasco on Nov. 14.
A hearing on the civil suit has been scheduled for March 3 in front of Judge Vincent O’Neill.