Hero cop who fought terrorists reveals SHOCKING story of battling Boston Marathon Bombers

One of the many inspiring stories that emerged in the aftermath of the devastating 2013 Boston Marathon bombing and subsequent man-hunt for the attackers was that of the policemen who chased the Tsarnaev brothers for four days as they attempted to escape to New York.

Pugliese had never been in a gun fight before. His extraordinary heroism during thse terrible days was honoured when was awarded the Congressional Badge of Bravery.

In a new interview he revealed the tension when they finally cornered the fugitives in a quiet suburb as bullets flew and bombs went off.

He said: “It seemed like it was a stand-off. Nobody was advancing, nobody was retreating.”

Pugliese added: “I decided that I would go through some yards and flank the individuals. 

 “Just as I’m about to come out to the front side of the houses the pressure cooker bomb went off. There was a big flash, a big plume of smoke that made almost like a mushroom cloud and then stuff comes raining down on me and it was all the shrapnel and stuff that they had put inside. Fortunately none of it injured me.”

The off-duty officer, now no more than eight feet away from the accused bombers, began shooting, before tackling Tamerlan Tsarnaev to the ground.

Pugilism said: “He was still actively resisting, he must have been on an adrenaline high.”

This scene is at the heart of Patriots Day, which stars Mark Wahlberg, John Goodman and Kevin Bacon. The movie, by critically acclaimed director Peter Berg, weaves together the true stories of the ordinary people who performed incredible acts of bravery in the face of terror.

Pugliese and Oscar-winning actor JK Simmons, who plays him in Patriots Day, spoke about what took place that night.

The police hero gave Simmons firearms instructions, walked him through the April 19 encounter and served as a consultant throughout filming to ensure complete accuracy.

Simmons said: “This is a guy who is not the likeliest guy in the world to go be the hero in a gunfight. He’d never really been in the middle of anything that you could call action. 

“Watertown is right adjacent to Boston but it’s kind of a sleepy little community. I went on a shift with him and the only time we got out of the car was to get something to eat, and that was a Friday night!”

Berg said: “He (Pugliese) showed up that night and these cops were in one hell of a gun fight and they were getting just about all they could handle.” 

“None of these police officers had ever fired their weapons. They were a bunch of cops that did an extraordinary job.”

PATRIOTS DAY COMES TO BLU-RAY AND DVD JUNE 26