CRASH COURSE DEPUTY SAYS BEING IN COLLISION CHANGED HIS PERSPECTIVE.

Byline: Amy Raisin Staff Writer

SAUGUS - When Sheriff's Sgt. Gregg Lewison happened upon a crash involving a big rig and an SUV, he had no idea the bleeding and semiconscious man he helped tend to was one of his own deputies.

``I was helping apply gauze to his forehead, waiting for (the paramedics). His face was covered in blood. Five minutes into it, (a Fire Department medic) says to me `Do you know this is one of yours,''' Lewison said Saturday, 10 days after colleague Paul Kobe had to be extracted from his mangled Ford Expedition.

Kobe, an 18-year veteran of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department and a Saugus resident, was making the short trip to pick up his toddler from day care after 4 p.m. on May 21 when his SUV hit the side of a double-trailer big rig.

While the gash on his forehead - closed with more than 100 stitches - will heal, the father and husband of a five-months-pregnant wife said his outlook on the hundreds of crashes he has responded to during his career has changed forever.

``I've seen them all - fatality crashes, fender benders,'' said Kobe, 39, who will return to administrative duties at the Santa Clarita station on Monday. ``I have a new perspective now, and I can't thank the people enough who helped saved my life.''

The people - officers from the California Highway Patrol, Fire Department paramedics, hospital trauma workers - gathered Saturday at Fire Station 111 in Saugus for a reunion of sorts, where Kobe personally thanked them all.

Eric Bejar, a CHP officer who responded to the crash on Copper Hill Drive, west of McBean Parkway, has known Kobe for six years and knew immediately it was his friend's red SUV.

``It makes your heart sink when you show up and you know the person,'' Bejar said. ``It's real nice to see him here today, because that was a pretty bad crash. There was a lot of blood. It was ugly.''

The driver of the truck was not injured and no one was cited.

After years as the deputy assigned to Valencia High, Kobe accepted a training position about a month ago that meant more time in the station. He said he was ready to leave the grind of working in the field to the younger guys.

``The crashes, the shots being fired, I figured I served my time out there and would focus on training others,'' he said. ``A month later, I get in the worst accident. Kind of ironic.''

Vicki, married to Kobe for nine years, said the site of her husband in the emergency room covered in blood was more than frightening. In the days since the crash, however, she has learned to temper the urge to dote on him.

``I'd never have dreamed that he'd be doing this well, but I'm still kind of worried about him,'' she said. ``But he's headstrong and has that cop mentality. I'm trying my best to stay out of his way, not to keep asking him if he needs something all the time.''

Amy Raisin, [phone]

amy.raisin(at)dailynews.com

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(1 -- 2 -- color) Top, Deputy Paul Kobe hugs his 3-year-old daughter, Alissa, whom he was going to pick up from day care when his traffic crash occurred. Above, Alissa sticks close by as her father talks with firefighters from Fire Station 111. Kobe personally thanked all who helped him after the crash.

Joe Binoya/Special to the Daily News