Sgt. Tom Baitinger and k-9 officer Jeffrey Yaslowitz were the first St. Petersburg officers killed in the line of duty since 1980.
ST. PETERSBURG -- Two St. Pete cops lost their lives in a shooout with a man wanted on a domestic battery charge holed up in the attic of a home the morning of Jan. 24, becoming the first officers to die in the line of duty in St. Petersburg in three decades.
It was a somber press conference that afternoon for St. Petersburg Police Chief Chuck Harmon, who said succintly, "Our community has suffered a loss today."
Killed in a shootout were Sgt. Tom Baitinger and k-9 officer Jeffrey Yaslowitz, the first St. Petersburg police officers killed since 1980.
The body of the gunman, Hydra Lacy Jr., was found inside the home with a semi-automatic pistol.
A U.S. Marshall, not identified, was injured.
Bainter, 48, a nearly 15-year member of the police force left behind his wife, Paige. The 39-year-old Yaslowitz, hired in 1999, left behind his wife, Lorraine; two boys, ages 5 and 12 and an 8-year-old daughter.
Ironically, Yaslowitz, his shift over, was when the call when out for assistance at 3734th Ave., in the Perry Bayview neighborhood where Lacy, a known sex offender, was being sought on a federal warrant. Police were talking to his wife when they realized he was in the attic and armed. That's when Yaslowitz responded along with others.
Shots were fired just before 7:30 a.m. with Yaslowitz and the marshall hit first by gunfire. Baitinger tried to help the two fallen law enforcers, when he, too, was shot in the upper torso.