Officer Yaslowitz Fatally Shot at Close Range As He Tried to Handcuff Assailant

ST. PETERSBURG - Hydra Lacy Jr., shirtless and lying face down in a dark attic, told police officers he was giving up and they "had him" moments before the 39-year-old convicted felon grabbed a 9mm pistol, flipped over and shot St. Petersburg Police Officer Jeffrey Yaslowitz twice in the face.

The description is part of the findings from a criminal investigation into the fatal shootings on Jan. 24 of Officers Thomas Baitinger, Jeffrey Yaslowitz and gunman Hydra Lacy Jr.

St. Petersburg Police Chief Chuck Harmon presented the findings at an afternoon press conference Thursday. He said the findings revealed that Lacy Jr. had a "ploy," when reassuring officers that he was giving up peacefully, prior to grabbing a gun he had concealed in the dark attic.

Harmon said that Lacy used Yslowitz "as bait," after fatally shooting the officer, to lure other police into a St. Petersburg home to rescue the fallen officer, and shoot them with his gun and the police-issued handgun that had belonged to Yaslowitz.

"We did not know if (Yaslowitz) was dead or alive," Harmon said. "More people were put at risk for not knowing. It made us expedite" the rescue attempt, he said. "My credo was once Jeff was out that none of our people needed to get hurt."

Lacy shot and killed the two officers after hiding in the attic of his estranged wife's south St. Petersburg home. His body was pulled from the rubble of the home hours later, after it was bulldozed to gain access to the assailant. An autopsy report showed that Lacy had been shot 10 times.

The three reports, released Thursday, clear police and a deputy U.S. marshal of any wrongdoing in the death of Lacy, a 39-year-old convicted felon with an extensive criminal record. Lacy shot the officers when police visited the home to question Christine Lacy about his whereabouts.

There was an outstanding warrant for Lacy's arrest.

Here are key findings that show for the first time the incidents that led to the shootings:

• Deputy U.S. Marshal Ley holstered his Glock .40 and took out his Taser, after Lacy told the two officers that they "had him" and he was giving up.
• Yaslowitz turned off his flashlight and had opened the handcuffs, when Ley and an undercover officer, who has not been identified, saw Lacy struggle with the officer in the darkened attic.
• Ley tasered Lacy twice and was about to activate the Taser a third time when Lacy fired three or four shots from a 9mm semi-automatic pistol, hitting Yaslowitz twice in the face.
• Lacy next shot Ley twice, striking his bullet-proof vest and his groin, as the Deputy U.S. Marshal grabbed for his own holstered gun. The officer fell back through the attic opening to the ground floor.
• Lacy used Yaslowitz's police handgun and his own 9 mm semi-automatic handgun to shoot through the floor, when backup officers arrived to rescue Yaslowitz, whose body was in the attic. Three bullets struck Baitinger, who was wearing a bullet-proof vest and carrying a safety shield.
• A 9mm bullet, fired from above, missed the vest and struck Baitinger in the shoulder, traveling to his chest. This was the fatal wound.
• Baitinger was shot two other times before the fatal round. The first struck his vest in the lower back. The second struck the inside of his vest and was a "glancing shot."
• After being shot in the vest the first time, Baitinger said: "I've been hit. I'm OK. Let's get Yaz."
• Yaslowitz died instantly, though police did not know his condition at the time.
• Baitinger died at the scene, and was pronounced dead the hospital. When his bullet-proof vest was removed at the hospital emergency room, a bullet was found on the exam room floor.