Roll of Honor
Incident
Sergeant Michael Kunovich suffered a fatal heart attack following a violent struggle with a man in the 2500 block of State Road 16 in St. Augustine.
The man was sitting in the dark outside of a closed business when Sergeant Kunovich approached him at about 9:00 pm. When Sergeant Kunovich attempted to pat the man down for weapons, the subject attempted to flee. Sergeant Kunovich and other deputies struggled with the subject for over six minutes, during which the man attempted to disarm him of his taser. After the man was placed in handcuffs, he was able to access a pocket knife which had to be forcibly removed from his hands.
Sergeant Kunovich collapsed moments after the man was put in custody.
The man was charged with resisting violence and aggravated manslaughter. The charges were dropped, but he is in federal prison awaiting deportation.
Sergeant Kunovich had served with the St. Johns County Sheriff's Office for 25 years.
Survivors
He is survived by his two sons, mother, stepfather, two sisters, and a brother.
In Our Keeping
- Permanent identifier
BO-US-FL-AB369C23- Stewardship
- Maintained by NeuraWeb Global Inc.
- Added to badge.nw
- April 2, 2026
- Last updated
- July 23, 2026
Honored here by 1 sentinel - 1 tribute.
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Tributes
25 years. You could have gone home.
Sergeant Kunovich gave the St. Johns County Sheriff's Office 25 years. Still answering calls at the end.
Thank you for your service to the St. Augustine community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Sergeant Kunovich.
— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993
Agency
Service Record
Incident Details
Sergeant Michael Kunovich is one of 1,306 officers lost to cardiac events in the line of duty across the full record of this memorial — 4% of all 32,508 officers honored here.
In FL, 62 of 1,008 officers were lost to cardiac events in the line of duty — 6.2% of this state's fallen. That is 2.2 percentage points above the national rate of 4%.
At St. Johns County Sheriff's Office, 2 of 12 officers on record were lost to cardiac events in the line of duty — 16.7% of this agency's fallen.
National Cause Distribution
How Cardiac compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. Michael Kunovich's cause is highlighted.
How Michael Kunovich Compares
Offender Outcome
Awaiting deportation
When Cardiac Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Cardiac deaths across the full memorial record. Michael Kunovich is highlighted in May.
Incident Location
Others Who Wore This Badge
11 officers from St. Johns County Sheriff's Office are honored on badge.nw.
