GANGSTERS & OUTLAWS > COPS & OTHER CHARACTERS

Mary Ann Collura

In the Killer's Eyes

Mary Ann Collura on duty

In hindsight, Farrell says, he believes a got a glimpse of the real Omar Marti at that moment. Instead of showing the kind of gangland bravado that Marti later claimed to himself, he was a simpering, whimpering little boy. "He was saying I'm scared, I'm scared," Farrell recalled. Still, he kept resisting.

As Farrell struggled, Collura joined in. She struggled to pull Marti's left arm out from beneath him while Farrell worked on the right. Farrell decided that the only choice he had was to use pepper spray to subdue the struggling suspect and he warned Collura that he was about to.

"I just said, 'watch out,'" Farrell said. I've been in incidents like this before. Some cops just don't care, they just come out with the can of Black Flag and start nailing everybody...so just from experience, I'm like, 'Hey listen, I'm going to get a can of whoop-ass out —just hang tight.'"

Collura hung on as Farrell sprayed the painful liquid into the squirming suspect's face. "He still fought. He did a little scream because I got him like point blank right in the eyes."

Farrell for a moment believed that the fight was nearing an end.

Even now, when he speaks about it, it's like he's reliving it. "I look to my left where she is and she's got the left arm out. I'm like, "Oh, great, half the battle's done. All I got to do is work on the other one now"...so I'm like, "Hey good job, you got the left arm out."

From his position on the right side of the suspect, Farrell never saw Marti slip the .357 from his waistband with his right hand. He didn't realize that Marti had raised himself just enough on his right shoulder to aim the gun at point blank range at Collura's torso.