A suburban Boston police officer who became a national hero in 2013 when he tackled one of the Boston Marathon bombers retired from the only job he says he ever wanted.
Watertown police Sgt. Jeffrey Pugliese retired on Monday after more than 41 years on the force.
He wanted to keep working, but had reached the state's mandatory police retirement age of 65. Pugliese, an Army veteran and the son of a police detective, said he had wanted to join the profession since he was a teenager.
During the April 2013 gunfight with the marathon bombers, Pugliese came face to face with Tamerlan Tsarnaev.
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As Pugliese and two other officers held Tsarnaev down, his younger brother, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, sped toward them in an SUV. Pugliese grabbed Tamerlan by the belt to pull him out of harm's way.
Dzhokhar ran over and killed his older brother.
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Oscar-winning actor J.K. Simmons, who played Pugliese in the 2016 movie "Patriots Day," sent a video message to the retiree.
"I'm the only guy in Hollywood good looking enough to portray you on screen," Simmons said in the video. "Thank you for teaching me how to shoot a gun and teaching me all kinds of things about the ropes of police work."
