Mary Ann Collura

An Act of Courage

Detective David Boone

"She was sent on a call and I was going as her backup," Boone remembered. "It was a domestic violence call, which as you know can be some of the worst calls you go on." When Boone arrived, two hysterical women were on the street outside, screaming that there was a man inside with a machete, he had threatened them, and had, it seemed, also threatened suicide. Boone saw Collura's cruiser, but no sign of Collura. "I kept asking them, "Where is the other officer?" "Where is the other officer?" Most cops, recognizing the implicit danger in the situation would have waited for backup before venturing inside to face an armed and dangerous suspect who was clearly in a volatile state. Not Collura.

"Whatever happened that night, she needed to go in right away to take care of this," Boone recalled. "So I walked into the house...I went through...a living room and was heading into the dining room and I'm calling, "Mary Ann! Mary Ann!"

"You know the...hair on the back of my neck was...standing up. I didn't hear anything, and then suddenly as I was getting close to the kitchen door out comes the machete through the door and it hits the floor. Somehow, she had gotten it away from him; calmed him down she was just handcuffing him when I walked in the door. She actually turned a really bad, bad situation. How she did it, I don't know. She had a way with people, though, she was a sweet-talker, you know, so she was able to talk him out of it."  That incident won her a citation for bravery, Boone said. It also cemented the confidence and affection of her fellow officers had for her.

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1. Point Blank
2. Holy Thursday
3. As If He Never Was
4. Small Time
5. An Easy Shift
6. An Act of Courage
7. Last Call
8. The Prodigal Son Returns
9. Not So Innocent
10. A Routine Stop
11. The Chase Begins
12. On His Own
13. Show Down
14. In the Killer's Eyes
15. "Oh, God!"
16. Marti's Flight
17. Legacy
18. Bibliography