Two St. Petersburg police officers were killed in the line of duty on Monday, following several exchanges of gunfire with a fugitive wanted on charges of aggravated battery, sexual assualt, kidnapping and aggravated assault of a Law Enforcement Officer.
Sergeant Thomas J. Baitinger, 48 years and K-9 Officer Jeffrey A. Yaslowitz, 39, were gunned down when Hydra Lacy, Jr., 39 years, a fugitive, opened fire on police.
Police, working with U.S. Marshals and the Florida Regional Fugitive Task Force had gone to the home of a relative of Hydra Lacy, Jr., in an effort to locate him. While there, police learned Lacy was hiding in the attic of the home.
Back up units and several officers, including Sergeant Thomas Baitinger and K-9 Officer Jeffrey Yaslowitz*, responded to the home.
Initial reports indicate that Yaslowitz and a US Marshal were positioned near the entrance of the attic and challenged the suspect to surrender. Lacy refused and instead open fire.
Yaslowitz was struck by one of Lacy’s bullets and fell wounded inside the attic. The U.S. Marshall, who was also struck, tumbled to the first floor.
Police say, several officers, including Baitinger entered the home to rescue Yaslowitz and the U.S. Marshall. Lacy, fired several more rounds through the ceiling at the officers after they entered the home.
Baitinger, who was wearing a bullet-proof vest, was struck in the upper torso by at least one of the suspect’s bullets.
Under more gunfire, officers were able to extract Baitinger and the U.S. Marshall from the home, but were unable to remove Yaslowitz from the attic.
Baitinger was later pronounced dead at the hospital.
Officers from the St. Petersburg Police Department Tactical Apprehension and Control (TAC) Team responded to the scene and set up a perimeter around the home. Hostage negotiators were also present and held intermittent conversations with the suspect, Lacy, who refused to surrender.
TAC officers entered the home to rescue Yaslowitz and an extended exchange of gunfire took place with the suspect.
Yaslowitz was extracted from the home and transported to Bayfront Medical Center where he was pronounced dead from a gunshot wound to his upper body.
TAC team members entered the home around mid-afternoon and found Hydra Lacy, Jr., dead in the attic.
Baitinger, who joined the force in 1996, is survived by his wife, Paige.
Yaslowitz, an 11-year veteran of the St. Petersburg Police Department, is survived by his wife, Lorraine and three children, ages 5 to 12 years.
Last Thursday, January 20, two Miami-Dade police officers were shot and killed in a gunfight as they tried to serve a warrant on a violent fugitive in a Miami home.
(* No photo available yet for K-9 Officer Jeffrey Yaslowitz)
