Slain St. Petersburg Officers Remembered

Sgt. Thomas Baitinger

St. Petersburg Police are continuing their investigation into the events surrounding the shooting deaths of two officers on Monday. Several officers gathered to remember their slain colleagues.

The house where Hydra Lacy Jr. gunned down two St. Petersburg police officers is no more. Mayor Bill Foster ordered it razed to the ground after police armored vehicles poked holes in it, trying to reach the suspect after he holed up in the attic. But the memory of the slain officers lives on.

St. Petersburg Maj. Cheryl Oliver supervised one of the fallen officers, Thomas Baitinger. She and the officer she called "Bait" worked together for six years before she got promoted.

Oliver says they became good friends, and studied to become lieutenants together. She says Baitinger helped her through some rough periods in life.

"We often talked about things that we probably shouldn't have talked about at work, but it gave us both strength to go through some of the things we went through," she said. "I knew him not only as a colleague, but as a friend. And it's hard, but I just know there's a purpose and a reason for everything."

Viewings for Baitinger and fellow officer Jeffrey Yaslowitz will be held at 6 p.m. Thursday at First Baptist Church, 1900 Gandy Blvd. The funeral is set for 11 a.m. Friday.