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Boat owner Dave Henneberry wants to avoid spotlight after discovering suspect

Investigators work around the boat where Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was found hiding after a massive manhunt Friday.

Investigators work around the boat where Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was found hiding after a massive manhunt Friday. (Getty Images)

WATERTOWN, Mass. — He’s a reluctant hero.

The man who discovered Boston bomb suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev hiding in his boat — and then called cops, leading to his capture — returned home to praise yesterday.

“Dave, you’re the hero!’’ a female neighbor told boat owner Dave Henneberry as she hugged him outside his home. Henneberry had returned home after stayed with relatives over the weekend to avoid the media spotlight. Watertown officials had wanted to honor him at Saturday’s Boston Bruins hockey game, but he declined.

“He’s just overwhelmed by everyone,” said another neighbor George Pizzuto.

The 66-year-old Henneberry had gone into his backyard around 5:45 p.m. Friday for a smoke when he spotted blood near his dry-docked boat.

He then noticed that the tarps covering the boat were untied — but “he thought the state trooper might have left it open” during an earlier canvass of the area for Tsarnaev around 2 p.m., said neighbor Joe Morrissey.

When Henneberry lifted up the tarp, he spotted the bleeding perp and immediately called cops.

“He’s just not ready [to make public statements],” Pizzuto said. “David told me, ‘Not now, I just can’t talk to anyone right now.’ ”

Henneberry may receive at least part of a $50,000 reward posted by the several Boston police unions for information leading to the bombers’ capture. A carjacking victim in the case also could get some of the money.