4.Jeffrey Pugliese — Direct/Cross/Redirect
430 linesJEFFREY PUGLIESE, duly sworn
COURT CLERK: State your name and spell your last name for the record and speak into the mic.
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: My name is Jeffrey Pugliese; last name is spelled P-U-G-L-I-E-S-E.
COURT CLERK: Thank you.
DIRECT EXAMINATION BY MR. CHAKRAVARTY:
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: Good afternoon. Sergeant Pugliese, are you with the Watertown Police Department?
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: Yes, I am.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: And what's your rank?
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: Sergeant.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: How long have you been with the Watertown Police Department?
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: 35 years.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: And are you from Watertown?
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: Yes, I am.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: Grew up there?
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: Yes.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: Before you became a police officer in Watertown, what did you do?
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: I was in the U.S. Army.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: And what was your role there?
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: I was a military police officer.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: And when did you become a sergeant?
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: 1993, I believe.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: And in addition to your role as a sergeant, do you have collateral duties on the Watertown P.D.?
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: Yes, I do.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: What are they?
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: I'm a firearms instructor.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: Back in April of 2013, what was your assignment as a sergeant?
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: I was assigned to the night patrol division, patrol supervisor, uniform.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: And what does that entail?
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: You're out driving around the town, supervising, making sure the officers are doing what they need to do, or you're available to assist the officers in any critical incidents.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: And about how many other police officers do you supervise when you're on shift?
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: It varies depending on the night of the week. It can be upwards of ten, it could be a minimum of four.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: Do you recall the week of the Marathon bombings, April 15, 2013?
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: Yes, I do.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: During the day, what were you doing that week?
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: That particular day of the bombings?
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: On the day of the bombings.
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: Yes. I was actually in Lowell, Massachusetts, at our annual in-service training.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: And how did you hear about the bombing?
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: The class had let out somewhere around two o'clock. I was getting in my vehicle, and I turned on the radio, WBZ radio, and I heard that there was just an explosion at the Boston Marathon finish line.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: Do you listen to a lot of news when you're in your cruiser?
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: Yes, I do.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: Later that week, did you continue to attend that in-service up in Lowell?
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: Yes. It's a Monday through Thursday, four-day class. And so I was going Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday that week.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: Now, on Thursday, April 18th of that week, were you scheduled to work after your in-service?
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: Yes, I was.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: And what was your shift that night?
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: Three-thirty to midnight.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: And did you head back to the Watertown area from Lowell that afternoon?
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: Yes, I did.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: And did you go along with your shift duties without incident until the evening?
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: Yes.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: What happened around 10 p.m. that evening?
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: I was in the police station writing a report on an incident that had occurred at a licensed establishment in town, and I heard on my portable radio that Cambridge -- or an MIT police officer had been shot.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: And so what did you do after you heard that?
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: I continued to finish my report. I was actually in the police station until just about the end of my shift. About 11:30, 11:35, I finished the report and sent it off to the lieutenant for approval -- or his review and approval. And then I went out, took my cruiser over to my personal vehicle, put my gear in the back and went back into the building.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: So you were transitioning from your cruiser to your personal vehicle?
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: Yes.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: And when you went back into the station, was there any further conversation?
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: Yes. The lieutenant was looking for me. He had told me that he thought he had inadvertently deleted the report that I had written, asked me if I could see if I could pull it back up. And I subsequently spent about, I don't know, 40, 45 minutes or so trying to find the report, to no avail.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: While all that was happening, did a call come in?
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: Yes.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: Explain that.
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: Well, let me just back up just a -- not while that was going on. I had left the building at this point, figured I would let the computer people try to figure that report out in the morning. And I was actually out in my own vehicle when I learned about a carjacking.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: Okay. So you gave up on the report issue and went back out to your car?
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: Yes. Yes.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: Okay. So, now, were you still in uniform?
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: Yes, I was.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: And you were sitting in your car?
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: Yes, I was.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: But did you still have your police radio?
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: Yes, I did.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: All right. So what did you hear?
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: I heard that there was a vehicle that had been carjacked in Cambridge and that it was being -- I believe our dispatcher said the cell phone was being pinged, but it ultimately -- I believe turned out to be the GPS system on the vehicle. But that it was being pinged, and it was on Dexter Avenue in Watertown.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: And you were at the Watertown police headquarters?
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: Yes.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: Which is on Main Street?
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: Yes, it is.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: So how far is that from Dexter Avenue?
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: Mile and a half to two miles.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: So what did you do after you got that?
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: So I was sitting, listening to the radio, and the vehicle was being pinged in Watertown. And I then heard Officer Reynolds say that he had located the vehicle. And at that point -- I knew that there had been four officers working the midnight shift plus the patrol supervisor -- I decided that I would take a ride in that direction in case there was a vehicle pursuit, and if anybody driving the vehicle bailed out of the car and there would be a foot pursuit, I figured in my own vehicle I would be an extra set of eyes.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: And at the time you were heading over towards Dexter Street -- Dexter Ave. -- excuse me -- did you know who the suspects were?
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: Okay. Incidentally, you mentioned earlier that the Watertown P.D. is on Main Street?
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: Yes.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: Is there a Bank of America very close by, right across the street?
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: It's probably -- maybe a half mile away down in the Watertown Square area.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: And that's also on Main Street?
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: Yes, it is.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: So did you head towards Dexter Ave.?
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: Yes, I did.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: Was this your personal vehicle or in the cruiser?
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: My personal vehicle.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: How long did it take you to get there?
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: Initially I was probably doing the speed limit, you know, driving along, and then eventually I heard the radio broadcast from the officers on-scene that they're being fired upon, they're taking gunshots at them. And at that point I was probably anywhere between Main and Waverley Avenue and Main and Whites Ave. And from there to the scene, it probably took me a minute, if that. I was doing probably 70, 80 miles an hour up -- down through Watertown Square, up Arsenal Street. Traffic was very light at that time.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: And could you tell who was talking through the microphone that they said that shots were being fired?
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: Yes; it was Officer Reynolds and Sergeant MacLellan.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: And was Sergeant MacLellan the shift supervisor who took over for you?
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: Yes. Yes.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: What was their tone when they were saying that?
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: A little bit excited.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: Did you get down there pretty quickly?
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: Pardon me?
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: Did you get down to the scene pretty quickly?
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: Very, very quickly.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: And where did you park your car?
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: I parked my vehicle on Dexter Avenue just prior to Laurel. Yeah, just prior to Laurel.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: And what did you do when you got there?
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: I opened the -- I drive a Chrysler minivan. I opened the sliding door, put my vest back on because I had taken it off at the end of my shift, and I started approaching Dexter Avenue to where the gunshots were coming from.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: Okay. And when you say "vest," you mean a bulletproof vest?
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: Yes.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: That's a standard issue that when you're on duty you wear?
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: Yes. Yes.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: Can we call up Exhibit 775, which is in evidence.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: Do you recognize this diagram, Sergeant Pugliese? I can zoom in.
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: Yes, I do.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: Okay. And is this Dexter Street -- Dexter Ave. over here?
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: That would be Dexter Avenue, yes.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: And then this is Laurel Street?
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: Yes.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: And on this diagram, can you just make a notation -- or just touch the screen in the general vicinity of where you parked your car?
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: Okay.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: And you've motioned close -- right in front of 144 Dexter Ave. Is that right?
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: I don't know what the number is, but that is the location. As a matter of fact, I was just about in front of that residence's driveway.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: Okay. And was this cruiser there already?
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: I don't believe so. I don't recall that cruiser being there.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: Okay. So could that be your cruiser?
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: Pardon me?
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: No, you weren't in your cruiser.
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: No, I was in my personal vehicle.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: Okay. And where did you go on this diagram?
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: I -- do you want me to touch and --
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: If you can.
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: I exited my vehicle about here, I walked along this hedge line here, along the sidewalk. And then when I was about where my finger is stopped right now, I could hear the gunshots, and I heard an explosion at this point. I continued on, and I cut into this walkway here leading into this residence, and I saw two officers. And I recognized one as Officer Reynolds. The other one I didn't recognize immediately, which turned out to be ultimately one of our Watertown officers, Officer Miguel Colon. As I stepped in behind them, they turned around to me and said, "Sarge, Sarge, get down. They're shooting at us." I took a position of cover. We had the vehicles -- if you look there, in the driveways there were vehicles. We were able to use those for cover.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: And then did you assess the situation from there?
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: Yes, I did. I kind of looked around, and I saw Sergeant MacLellan behind a tree down on my left, and he was returning fire to the suspects and verbalizing to them, "Give it up. Give it up," you know, among other things. I don't really -- I just remember, "Give it up. Give it up."
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: And there's only one tree on that side of the street?
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: That would have been this tree there, yes.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: Where could you tell that the -- could you tell from which direction the gunfire was coming?
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: The gunfire was coming from the east end of Laurel Street.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: Okay. Is that in this direction?
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: Correct.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: So -- sorry. They were shooting at you?
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: Right. Right. But it was coming from -- correct.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: Could you see anything from where the gunfire was coming?
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: Yeah, there was -- I could actually see a couple of vehicles down in the street. One of them was a police cruiser off to the left; another one was a black, you know, SUV; and there was another vehicle in front of that. And I could see what I thought to be -- I could hear the gunshots and I saw muzzle flashes -- what I thought to be muzzle flashes coming from both sides of the vehicle.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: When you say "the vehicle," is it the black SUV?
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: Yes.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: Was this where Sergeant MacLellan's cruiser ultimately came to rest?
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: Yes.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: And was it there when you first came upon the scene?
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: Yes.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: Where was the black SUV in relation to that cruiser, if you could just touch the screen?
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: Right about there (indicating). Did it take?
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: It didn't take. If you could use the pad of your finger?
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: Yes, I am. Right about --
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: I'm sorry. Do it again.
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: Right about -- right in this area here.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: After you assessed where the gunfire was coming from, what did you do?
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: I made a determination that Sergeant MacLellan, Officer Reynolds and Officer Colon were pinned down, and so I decided that I was going to try to work my way through some backyards and try to flank the individuals that were firing at the other officers.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: Why did you decide to flank the individuals?
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: It was -- I wanted to protect the other officers on the scene. I wanted to help save their lives in case they were going to get shot.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: Could you see a direct route?
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: If I had gone directly straight down the street I would have been exposing myself to the gunfire, so I decided to cut through backyards and flank them that way.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: Okay. So again, using your finger, if you could just trace, as you did earlier, your path?
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: Okay. I was in this front yard here. I went up alongside of this house like this. I went over a chain-link fence there, through this backyard, over another fence here (indicating).
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: Let me stop you there. Right where you had -- your path -- you stopped, did you see -- notice anything happen behind the houses?
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: Yes. That second house that I was going behind, after I went over the fence I was kind of watching my feet to see where I landed. It was dark out. I focused my attention to get ahead of me and I saw an individual at the bottom of the set of stairs there and he started to flee, I guess that would be southerly, towards Cypress Street.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: So can you describe the individual?
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: Yeah, it was a white male. He had dark hair and he was wearing a white T-shirt.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: Did you know whether he was one of the suspects?
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: At that time I did not.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: What did you do?
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: I aimed my pistol at him, I ordered him to stop. He didn't stop; he just kept going. He went over a chain-link fence in the backyard. And what I did then is I radioed into Watertown Control, our dispatch, that there was an individual that was fleeing from the area, gave a description, and advised that I didn't know if he was a suspect or a resident just fleeing for his own safety, and told them to keep an eye out for him, any other units responding.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: Did you later learn who he was?
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: Yes, I did. He was a resident of that house right there where I saw him at the back -- the bottom of the stairs.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: Why didn't you chase him?
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: He was fleeing and I did not think he was a threat to the officers that were on-scene because there was still gunshots going off. And I figured if he's running, you know, he's not going to hurt the officers, he's going to be gone, and we could always try to hunt him down later.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: What did you do?
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: Then I continued through the backyards.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: Please continue to describe your path, if you can.
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: I continued through here. And I was cutting through the backyards here, I believe it is. And when I got about to this point here, I heard a loud explosion (indicating). I saw a big flash, huge, huge plume of smoke. Something actually came by and hit me in the cheek -- fortunately, I didn't get any injuries -- and then stuff started raining down on me. It kind of stunned me for a moment, you know. I kind of stopped for a moment, kind of gathered my wits again and continued up to about this point here. And I was looking to my right and I could see the black SUV and I could see a couple of individuals in front of it. The headlights to the vehicle were on, and it was casting the light onto the two individuals that were in front of the vehicle, illuminating their bodies to a certain degree. And I could see activity going back and forth. I could see muzzle flashes once again and hear gunshots.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: Mr. Bruemmer, can I call up Exhibit 1522, please.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: Sergeant Pugliese, is this the SUV with the headlights facing easterly on Laurel Street?
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: Yes.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: And is that the position of the two individuals that you saw in front of the SUV?
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: For the most part, yes.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: Now, in relation to this photograph -- in relation to those individuals in this photograph, approximately where were you?
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: This house here -- is that going to touch -- this house here, a little bit beyond that doorway there, there's a driveway to the right of that house, then there's -- there were two vehicles in that driveway, then there's a chain-link fence. And I was on the other side of that chain-link fence. So I was probably maybe 25 feet from that location roughly.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: Okay. And were the individuals who were in front of the car which I just circled, were they stationary or were they moving?
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: They were moving around back and forth. I don't know exactly what they were doing back there, but there was movement.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: So what did you do?
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: I saw the muzzle flashes -- I could still hear Sergeant MacLellan tell them to give it up, give it up, they don't have a chance, and they continued to fire. And what I did is I drew my service pistol, I took aim at the one individual -- I guess I'll call him Suspect 1. If you want, I can identify who it ultimately turned out to be.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: Is it somebody you later had a personal encounter with?
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: Yes.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: And who was that?
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: That was Tamerlan Tsarnaev.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: Okay. And did you see him when you were behind that chain-link fence?
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: Yes, I did.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: Okay. So explain what happened.
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: I drew my pistol, I took careful aim, and I fired three or four shots at the individual. I thought I was hitting him but I didn't know whether or not I did. I just -- you know, I wasn't rushing my shots so I thought I was probably, you know, hitting my target, but it didn't seem to be having any effect.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: So what happened next?
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: Then I decided -- I could see their feet and ankles from underneath the vehicle. As I said, if you look at the picture, you can see how the headlights have illuminated their bodies. So that light was being cast down off of their bodies, kind of like reflecting it downward, and I could see their ankles and their feet. And what I decided to do was take a few skip shots, and that's you aim at the ground in front of your target and you kind of bounce the bullets -- the trajectory of the bullets, you'll come down, and the bullets will hit the ground and then bounce up and they'll reach a plane of about six to eight inches and then continue on on that plane. They don't come down like on this angle and bounce back up again like many people think they would; they kind of just pick up and get that trajectory. And I thought if I could, once again, take my time, aim, and get these bullets to count, maybe I could take their ankles out and get them to, you know, stop with the aggressive behavior they were doing.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: So that skip shot, the ricochet shot, is that a special shot that you learned --
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: I've learned -- I've learned it -- I've been a firearms instructor for the department for probably 30 years of my 35 years on the job. And I know somewhere in those 30 years that I've been trained in that at one of the firearms instructor schools, whether it be one or two classes over the years or several, but I know I've been trained in that.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: And what effect did that have after you shot --
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: When I was doing that, that's when Suspect 1 noticed where I was. I saw him kind of look at me. And he came charging up the street firing his firearm at me, and I returned fire as he was approaching.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: So you made eye contact with him?
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: Yes. Yes.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: Did you see what the other person was doing?
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: At this point now -- I now focused on the one that was charging me and shooting at me.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: Was he shooting at you as he was coming at you?
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: Yes, he was.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: All right. How many times do you think he shot at you?
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: I'm guessing four to six. Somewhere in there. I don't know. I wasn't really counting.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: Did he get to that driveway that you described earlier?
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: Yes, he did.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: And what did he do?
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: There was about a three-foot gap between the chain-link fence and one of the vehicles that was parked there. He ran up that driveway about five feet or so and continued to fire at me.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: Okay. On this diagram, can you just draw the general path in which he took to get to you?
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: Just right up the sidewalk. And the picture stops shy of where his destination was there.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: Mr. Bruemmer, if we could go back to 755, please? I'm sorry. Did I read that wrong? 775. Excuse me. Thank you.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: So, Sergeant Pugliese, I think you earlier indicated that the Mercedes was in this area and that you were in this area. Is that right?
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: Correct.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: Okay. And so on this diagram, can you draw where Tamerlan Tsarnaev was shooting at you?
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: As I say, he left his position of cover here, ran up the sidewalk here, and came in -- there's a chain-link fence. I don't see it depicted on this map. But he stopped about there, and once again, I was right about there (indicating).
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: So you're -- right face-to-face with each other?
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: We're about six feet, maybe eight feet at the most apart from each other.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: And did you continue to shoot at him?
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: As he was advancing towards me and firing, I was returning fire, yes.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: How many times do you think you shot at him?
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: I'm guessing five or six only because magazines hold 13 rounds of ammunition. I had one in the chamber of my pistol, gave me 14 rounds, and I had run out of ammunition at a certain point there. So I'm guessing while he was standing there and I was standing there, he was continuing to fire. My pistol ran out of ammunition and I had to reload in the middle of this battle.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: And did you do that? You dropped your magazine?
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: Yes, I did. I reloaded, dropped the magazine right by my feet, threw another magazine into the pistol, and continued to exchange fire with him.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: And what did he do?
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: He continued to fire at me. Ultimately, he had a problem with his pistol. I don't know if it jammed or he ran out of ammunition. He kind of just looked at his gun, he looked at me, we looked at each other, and I think out of frustration he threw his gun at me. It hit me in my left bicep and the gun fell. And then he turned -- do you want me to --
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: Yes, please. What did he do after that?
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: After he threw the firearm at me, he turned, ran down the sidewalk -- the driveway, out into the street, turned left, and started running in this direction here. I, in turn -- there was a picket fence along this property line here, there was a gate right here (indicating). I holstered up and I started chasing after him myself, and I tackled him right about in this area here.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: When you went to go chase down Tamerlan Tsarnaev, do you know what the other person was doing?
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: I really don't know what he was doing at that time. My focus was on the older brother, or Tamerlan.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: Did you catch up with him?
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: Yes, I did.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: And what happened?
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: I tackled him, brought him to the ground.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: When you brought him to the ground, was he wounded?
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: Yes, he was.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: What kind of wounds, in your estimation?
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: He was bleeding. I don't know exactly what the extent of the wounds were at that point. I didn't know. But I did know that he was bleeding.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: Okay. And so what happened when you brought him down?
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: He was continuing to resist Sergeant MacLellan. He was still in this position, under cover over here by this tree. He came out, came over to assist. Officer Reynolds, I don't know if he was still in that front yard or not or if he had advanced forward, but he came down and he was trying to assist, and the three of us were trying to get handcuffs on Tamerlan.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: So there were three of you in this area right here?
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: Yes.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: And was -- were you able to handcuff Tamerlan at that point?
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: No. He was face down. We were able to get his right hand behind his back, and his left hand -- at one point he had it underneath him, then it was flailing around a little bit, and then he got it underneath him again, and we were trying to get him. I know my own personal thought is I didn't want him to roll over because we didn't know what he had on him, so we wanted to keep him face down. That was my thought. And while we're trying to get control of his arms, Officer Reynolds said, "Sarge, Sarge, look out. The other guy's in the car. He's coming at us."
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: So, now, were you paying attention to what was happening behind you?
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: At that point, no, I was still focused. I gave a quick glance to my right and I saw some headlights down the road and then I turned my attention back to Tamerlan.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: And what did Sergeant MacLellan and Officer Reynolds do?
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: They withdrew from that position. Officer Reynolds disappeared to my left, which would have been -- he headed to a westerly position, and Sergeant MacLellan withdrew back to the safety of the tree area there.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: Okay. Did you look behind you at that point?
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: I looked to my right, and I could hear an engine racing, and I saw the headlights moving towards me from the SUV.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: Okay. On the diagram, could you just in your best estimation mark where you first saw the SUV coming towards you?
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: I would venture to say right about here maybe
(indicating).
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: And so when you first came on the scene, the headlights were facing away from you?
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: Correct.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: Is that fair to say?
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: Yes.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: And now they're facing towards you?
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: Yes, they were.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: Now, you had described when you came on the scene that there were cruisers at this end of Laurel Ave. [sic]. Is that right?
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: Correct.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: Were there any police cars down at this end?
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: None that I can recall.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: And you were one of the first people on-scene. Is that fair to say?
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: Yeah, I think I was probably the fourth officer on-scene. As I said -- yeah, fourth officer on-scene. There was Sergeant MacLellan, Officer Reynolds, Officer Colon, and then myself.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: And these roads all connect. And does this go back towards Arsenal Street?
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: Yes, that would -- Cypress Street? Let me think.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: I can zoom in on it for you.
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: I believe that's -- yeah, Cypress Street. Cypress Street, it will actually come down and it hooks around to the right, brings you back out to Dexter Avenue. And then if you take a left, it would bring you back to School Street, or if you went straight, it would take you to School Street.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: Now, when the SUV was coming in your direction, were you closer to the southerly side of Laurel Ave. or the northerly side?
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: I was close to the sidewalk on the southerly side of the roadway.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: And was there anything in the middle of the road that would prevent travel?
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: No, not in that area.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: Can we go to Exhibit 1525, which is in evidence.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: Do you recognize that picture?
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: Yes, I do.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: What is that?
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: That's a picture of Laurel Street looking westbound. And it looks like it may be the Mercedes SUV going up the roadway, and it looks like it may actually -- the picture's a little fuzzy, but I'm guessing that may be me standing in the middle of the road there, or on the side of the road.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: We'll zoom in now. And can you just circle the mass that you think may include you?
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: (Witness complies.)
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: How quickly did that car come up on you?
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: Very, very rapidly. It was accelerating at a very high rate of speed.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: And so once Officer Reynolds and Sergeant MacLellan withdrew, what did you do?
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: I saw that the vehicle was on the wrong side of the road heading directly at me, and Tamerlan -- what I did is I reached down and I grabbed Tamerlan by the back of the belt, and I was trying to drag him out of the street to prevent him from getting struck.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: Was the car coming straight at you?
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: Yes, it was.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: Were you successful in dragging him off?
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: I was able to pull him about a foot towards the sidewalk, and then the black SUV just -- it was right in my face. Like I kind of looked to the right, and the headlight was just like almost there, and I kind of rolled back onto my back. And as I did so, I could feel the breeze of the vehicle go by my face. I looked down and I saw Tamerlan -- the front wheels were over Tamerlan. He kind of bounced up and underneath the undercarriage a couple times. He got hung up in the rear wheels of the vehicle. The vehicle dragged him about 25 or 30 feet, and it struck one of our police cars that was off to the left side of the roadway there on the south side of the street.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: With the Court's permission, I would like to ask the witness to get off the stand and demonstrate how he rolled off of Tamerlan.
THE COURT: All right.
(The witness steps off the witness stand.)
BY MR. CHAKRAVARTY:
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: Sergeant Pugliese, if you wouldn't mind demonstrating in the well.
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: Where would you like me to go?
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: In the well of the court.
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: Right here?
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: Yes. So can you just -- if you wouldn't mind, get in a position that you were over Tamerlan Tsarnaev as you were trying to pull him to safety.
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: Yeah, I was in a position like this. I grabbed him by the back of the belt, and I was trying to pull him towards the sidewalk, which the southerly side would have been behind me here.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: And then when the SUV was right upon you, can you demonstrate how you got out of the way?
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: Well, like I said, I kind of looked like this. I saw the headlights. They were like right here in front of -- approaching my face, and I just kind of rolled back like that, and I was watching the SUV go by me.
(Demonstrating.)
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: How close -- please. Thank you. Resume the stand.
(The witness resumes the witness stand.)
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: How close did the wheels come of the SUV to you?
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: Oh, they were within inches of my feet as it went by me.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: And what happened to the vehicle when it ran over Tamerlan?
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: It continued to travel for, like I said, 25 or 30 feet. Tamerlan was hung up in the rear wheels. And it crashed into our car 465, which was parked on the south side of Laurel Street.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: And did the -- did the SUV ultimately get loose of that vehicle?
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: Yes, it did.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: And did it continue down Laurel Street?
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: Yes, it did. It continued down Laurel Street across Dexter Ave. And again, continuing down Laurel Street, that's the last time I saw the taillights. I got back up and refocused my attention back onto Tamerlan. Officer Reynolds came back down. We got him handcuffed. He was still moving around. Once again, we didn't know if he had any other explosive devices on him or anything else, so what I did is I literally stood up and put my foot in the small of his back and held him down, got on the radio and called for an ambulance.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: As you were doing that, did you check to see if you were injured?
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: No, I was focused on keeping Tamerlan from rolling over. Like I said, I didn't know if he had any explosive devices or anything else on him.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: And were you able to get him handcuffed?
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: Yes, with Officer Reynolds' handcuffs. He handed them to me, and the two of us got him handcuffed.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: And did an ambulance come?
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: Yes, it did.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: And did you get him into the ambulance?
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: Yes. He was -- Boston EMS arrived. They cut his clothes off him. And as they were cutting his clothes off, rolled him over a little bit at a time, saw that there were no other devices with him or anything like that, put him on a stretcher, put him in the back of an ambulance, and I believe off to Beth Israel Hospital. I may be mistaken on the hospital they took him to.
(Counsel confer off the record.)
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: Sergeant MacLellan, I --
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: Excuse me. Can we have 775 again?
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: I asked you those questions about Cypress Street and getting back onto Dexter Ave. and then off to Arsenal. To the best of your knowledge, as long as you were on-scene, was there anything from preventing the Mercedes from continuing in this direction?
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: No, there was nothing -- no police cars were down there. And the two vehicles, the green -- I believe it's a Honda, which was in front of the black SUV was more over to the south side of the street. And I believe the SUV did a three-point turn when he turned to come back in our direction. He could have just as easily gone around the Honda.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: That's all I have, your Honor.
CROSS-EXAMINATION BY MR. WATKINS:
MR. WATKINS: Good afternoon, Sergeant Pugliese.
MR. WATKINS: May I have the screen just for the witness?
MR. WATKINS: The government showed you Exhibit 1522. And you identified the two suspects there?
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: Yes.
MR. WATKINS: Do you recall that? I want to show you what I'm marking for identification, Defendant's Exhibit 3006 from that same series. Is that the same two suspects there?
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: It appears to be.
MR. WATKINS: And is that a fair and accurate representation of what was going on that night?
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: I would say yes.
MR. WATKINS: I would move into evidence Defense Exhibit 3006.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: No objection.
THE COURT: All right.
(Defense Exhibit No. 3006 received into evidence.)
BY MR. WATKINS:
MR. WATKINS: Now I'm going to blow up a portion of that. And you can see two figures?
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: Yes, sir.
MR. WATKINS: There is one to the left in darker clothing?
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: Yes.
MR. WATKINS: Do you recognize that as Tamerlan Tsarnaev?
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: No, I don't.
MR. WATKINS: There's a person to the right in what appears to be lighter or illuminated clothing. Do you recognize that as Tamerlan Tsarnaev?
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: I believe that one was Tamerlan.
MR. WATKINS: And what makes you believe that that is Tamerlan rather than Jahar?
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: Tamerlan was wearing light-colored clothing when he advanced towards me.
MR. WATKINS: He was wearing a jacket that night?
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: I don't recall if he had a jacket on or not.
MR. WATKINS: A dark blue or even black jacket? You don't recall?
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: I don't. I thought it was light clothing he was wearing.
MR. WATKINS: I'm showing you now what's been marked as Government's Exhibit 1525.
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: Yes.
MR. WATKINS: We talked about that portion of it where I've blown it up.
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: Uh-huh.
MR. WATKINS: Now, here one can see two headlights on the left side and two headlights on the right side?
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: That's what it appears to be, yes.
MR. WATKINS: And I think you also already testified this is the Mercedes as it was coming towards you?
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: That's what I believe it is, yes.
MR. WATKINS: I'm going to show you Exhibit 775, which is in evidence, and also, if I can, Exhibit 1525. Now I'll do 775. So looking at these two maps -- I'll blow that up again -- it appears to be two pairs of headlights pointed down towards the Mercedes in that picture?
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: Yeah, I guess it does appear to be.
MR. WATKINS: And were those -- the set of headlights closer to us, it looks like you're right next to that in this picture?
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: Yeah, that's what it looks like.
MR. WATKINS: I think you've told us that that was a fair and accurate representation of the Mercedes going towards you?
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: Yup.
MR. WATKINS: So it's fair to say from what you've seen there, there actually is another car parked there next to where you are tackling Tamerlan?
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: I would say yes.
MR. WATKINS: It sounds like you're a truly excellent marksman to be able to do those skip shots and hit Tamerlan Tsarnaev.
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: I'm a fairly good shot, yes.
MR. WATKINS: And Tamerlan Tsarnaev, with a gun, started walking towards you, where you were?
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: Running towards me.
MR. WATKINS: Running towards you?
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: Yes.
MR. WATKINS: And the two of you exchanging shots?
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: Yes.
MR. WATKINS: You hit him; fair to say?
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: I would think I was hitting him. I don't know if I was.
MR. WATKINS: When you saw him down -- when you tackled him, he was injured at that point, correct?
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: Yes.
MR. WATKINS: You could see the visible wounds that he had on him?
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: Not at that point, I could not. He had clothing on. I could see blood on him.
MR. WATKINS: Right. And you are aware that, in fact, he was shot several times?
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: Yes, I learned that later on.
MR. WATKINS: And you've trained Sergeant MacLellan and Officer Reynolds in marksmanship?
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: Yes, I have.
MR. WATKINS: And you are really the expert of the department, right?
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: I don't know if I'm the expert, but I am a firearms instructor for the department.
MR. WATKINS: Take credit. You're the best shot in the department, right?
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: I don't know about that.
MR. WATKINS: So you hit him and he threw the gun or threw -- right, threw the gun and hit you in the arm?
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: Yes.
MR. WATKINS: And then he continued to run towards the other folks that were shooting, right?
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: Yes.
MR. WATKINS: And it was only after you tackled him -- and he went down right away when you tackled him?
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: Yeah. I leapt up, and I know I probably came down from about waist high on his shoulders.
MR. WATKINS: And that took him down?
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: Yes, it did.
MR. WATKINS: During that period of time when he was marching down towards Officer Reynolds and Sergeant MacLellan, there's a little lull in the shooting? There's no more shooting going on?
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: To tell you the truth, I don't know. I was so focused on chasing him, running after him as he was running towards the other officers, that I really don't know if there was other -- if there were rounds being fired by anybody at that point.
MR. WATKINS: When you tackled Tamerlan down on the ground, he continued to be combative towards you?
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: Correct; he continued to resist.
MR. WATKINS: That's all I have, your Honor.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: Just one question.
REDIRECT EXAMINATION BY MR. CHAKRAVARTY:
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: Did you get hit at all by gunfire?
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: No, I did not.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: That's all I have.
THE COURT: Thank you, Sergeant. You may step down.
JEFFREY PUGLIESE: Thank you.
(The witness is excused.)
THE COURT: We'll take the luncheon recess at this point.
COURT CLERK: All rise for the Court and the jury. The Court will take the lunch recess.
(The Court exits the courtroom and there is a recess in the proceedings at 12:58 p.m.)
COURT CLERK: All rise for the Court and the jury.
(The Court and jury enter the courtroom at 2:05 p.m.)
COURT CLERK: Be seated.
THE COURT: Ms. Pellegrini?
MS. PELLEGRINI: Good afternoon, your Honor. The government calls James Floyd.