Slain Officer Charles Kondek's name added to Tarpon Springs police building

TARPON SPRINGS — The Tarpon Springs Police Department on Friday unveiled the engraving of Officer Charles Kondek's name on the agency's building and a memorial stone dedicated to fallen officers.

Kondek, 45, was fatally shot Dec. 21 while responding to a noise complaint at the Glen's Eureka Apartments. His wife, Teresa, and their children were among dozens, including members of several law enforcement agencies, who gathered Friday outside the police department at 444 S Huey Ave.

"He will never be forgotten. We now stand in front of a building named to remember and honor Charlie, who gave his life in service. … We stand next to a monument that now bears his name," Tarpon Springs police Chief Robert Kochen said. "His memory will be preserved here always."

The public safety building also is named after Tarpon Springs native Harry Singletary Jr., who served as secretary of the Department of Corrections in the 1990s and was the first African American to run Florida prisons. He died in 2010.

Aleena Kondek, the slain officer's youngest daughter, told the crowd that her mother has received several boxes of letters from "people in our community telling her amazing stories about my dad."

"We've learned that my dad was not just an inspiration to us," she added. "He was an inspiration to his friends, his (law enforcement) family and his community — the same community he gave his life to protect."