Due in court: What we know about driver charged in deaths of Waltham officer, National Grid worker
A New Hampshire man is slated to be arraigned Thursday on manslaughter charges in connection with a hit-and-run crash[1] on Wednesday[2] that left a veteran Waltham police officer and a National Grid worker dead. Peter Simon, 54, of Woodsville, is slated to be arraigned in Waltham District Court on two counts of manslaughter and armed robbery in the deaths of 58-year-old Waltham officer Paul Tracey, a beloved husband and father of two[3] who was working a detail, and a 36-year-old worker from Cambridge, authorities said.
Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan and Waltham Police Chief Kevin O’Connell said Simon was driving a pickup truck east on Totten Pond Road around 4 p.m. when he pulled to the side of the road and suddenly turned back into the roadway in an attempt to execute a U-turn. He then allegedly struck a vehicle traveling east, continued driving forward for about a quarter mile, and barreled into Tracey and the National Grid worker at an active worksite.
Simon then struck multiple other vehicles and abandoned his banged-up truck after hitting Tracey and the worker, officials said.
Simon then allegedly pulled a knife on another officer before stealing his police cruiser and taking off again. Simon eventually crashed the cruiser on Winter Street, where he was apprehended by police following a brief foot chase. During a news conference late Wednesday night, Ryan didn’t say whether Simon was acting intentionally or not.
Boston 25 on Thursday morning learned that Simon was previously charged in connection with a wreckless conduct case in New Hampshire stemming from an incident in Aug.
2009, in which he was found not guilty because of insanity and sentenced in 2011 to five years in a psychiatric unit in the New Hampshire State Prison in Concord. Simon, a former Brattleboro, Vermont, resident, had been charged with several felonies after he fled from police in his vehicle and hit a public transportation bus head-on in Keene, New Hampshire, the Brattleboro Reformer reported[4]. At the time, Cheshire County Attorney Peter Heed said Simon suffered from a disassociative disorder and a history of panic attacks.
Simon’s sentence was later terminated in Nov.
2015. What we know about driver charged in deaths of Waltham officer, National Grid worker[5] by Boston 25 Desk[6] on Scribd This embedded content is not available in your region.
In court on Thursday, prosecutors are expected to detail the facts of this case and possibly announce additional criminal charges when Simon goes before a judge. An investigation is ongoing. This is a developing story.
Check back for updates as more information becomes available.
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References
- ^ hit-and-run crash (www.boston25news.com)
- ^ on Wednesday (www.boston25news.com)
- ^ Paul Tracey, a beloved husband and father of two (www.boston25news.com)
- ^ reported (www.reformer.com)
- ^ What we know about driver charged in deaths of Waltham officer, National Grid worker (www.scribd.com)
- ^ Boston 25 Desk (www.scribd.com)
- ^ FREE Boston 25 News app (www.boston25news.com)
- ^ Facebook (www.facebook.com)
- ^ Twitter (twitter.com)
- ^ Watch Boston 25 News NOW (www.boston25news.com)