2 Fla. officers killed in firefight; suspect dead
ST. PETERSBURG, FL
St. Petersburg police spokesman Michael Puetz said the suspect
was found dead when officers went into the home Monday afternoon,
about six hours after the shootout, the latest in a recent rash of
shootings across the nation that have killed or wounded law
enforcement officers.
Law enforcement had been at the home to arrest Hydra Lacy Jr.,
39, around 7 a.m. on an aggravated battery charge, and
investigators later identified him as the one who opened fire on
the officers, Puetz said.
He said Lacy had a long record that includes convictions for
armed robbery and sexual battery. He had been listed as a sex
offender with the state since 1996 and failed to register in
December with the Pinellas County Sheriff's Department, which he
was required to do four times a year. Deputies had been looking for
him since then, and local officers on Friday had been told to be on
the lookout for Lacy.
"He was somebody we wanted to get off the streets, " Police
Chief Chuck Harmon said. "Who expects to walk into a house and get
gunfire from the attic?"
The marshal was shot twice but was doing fine, Chief Deputy U.S.
Marshal Tom Figmik said.
One officer, the marshal and a Pinellas County Sheriff's deputy
were the first ones at the house and were told by a woman that Lacy
was in the attic. The three called for backup, and soon after
Jeffrey Yaslowitz, 39, and Tom Baitinger, 48, arrived. Police had
initially said they were among the first three to arrive.
The chief said Yaslowitz and the marshal, who was not
identified, went up to the attic and exchanged fire with the
suspect. Both were hit. Yaslowitz went down in the attic, while the
marshal tumbled to the first floor after being hit in his
bulletproof vest and lower torso.
Baitinger was one of several officers who came to rescue the
other two and was hit when Lacy fired through the attic floor.
Hostage negotiators arrived, and the SWAT team exchanged more
gunfire with Lacy. The SWAT team eventually got Yaslowitz out of
the house, destroying about a third of the home in the process. He
was later pronounced dead. Authorities had tried to force out the
gunman by cutting off the home's electricity and water before
discovering he was dead.
Baitinger had worked with the department since 1996 and is
survived by his wife. Yaslowitz started his career there in 1999,
working with a K-9 unit and his dog partner, Ace. He is survived by
his wife and three children.
"In my mind as a police officer, this crook, this criminal,
this murderer, cop-killer, whatever you would like to call him, did
a terrible injustice to two of my people today and two of the
people that served this community," Harmon said during an
afternoon press conference.
The home, situated in a middle-class neighborhood on the south
side of St. Petersburg, was listed in Lacy's name, according to
property records.
Court records show Lacy failed to show for his scheduled trial
Nov. 1 on the aggravated battery charge, and an arrest warrant was
issued the next day.
State records show Lacy was convicted in 1989 of armed burglary,
resisting arrest with violence and other charges. He was released
from prison 1991. In 1992, he was convicted of sexual battery with
a weapon or force and false imprisonment of a child. He was
released in from prison 2001.
Officials confirmed Lacy was the brother of former super
middleweight boxing champion Jeff Lacy, who held the International
Boxing Federation title from 2004 to 2006. Jeff Lacy, who has a pro
record of 25-4, was also a member of the 2000 Olympic boxing team,
losing his third fight.
Their father, Hydra Lacy Sr., was a journeyman heavyweight in
the 1960s and 1970s, compiling a 5-12-2 record.
Monday's shooting comes four days after two Miami-Dade County
detectives were killed by a murder suspect they were trying to
arrest. That suspect was killed by another detective.
The officers were being remembered Monday at a funeral, where
news of Monday's shooting added to the grief already palpable among
the thousands gathered at American Airlines Arena in downtown
Miami.
On Sunday, a man opened fire inside a Detroit police precinct,
wounding four officers including a commander before he was shot and
killed by police. The officers' injuries were not considered
life-threatening, said Police Chief Ralph Godbee.
And on Monday, a Lincoln City, Ore., police officer was
critically wounded when he was shot during a traffic stop.