Peter Simon, accused of killing Waltham cop, utility worker in crash, appears in court
(*This story was updated at 12 p.m. on Thursday, Dec.
7, 2023 with additional reporting)
A New Hampshire man accused of running his pickup truck[1] through a Waltham construction site, killing a city police officer and an employee of National Grid, pleaded not guilty to charges including manslaughter and armed robbery, and was ordered held without bail during a court appearance Thursday.
Authorities said[2] Peter Simon, 54, of Woodsville, N.H., crashed through a worksite on Totten Pond Road at about 4 p.m. Wednesday, killing Waltham Police Officer Paul Tracey[3], 58, and a National Grid worker, identified in court as Roderick Jackson[4], 36, of Cambridge, and injuring two other utility employees.
Simon appeared Thursday morning in a Waltham courtroom packed with family members of Tracey and Jackson, dozens of their National Grid coworkers and police officers from Waltham and multiple nearby communities.
“We’re here today in solidarity, not only with my fallen officer but with a National Grid worker, too, as well,” an emotional Waltham Police Chief Kevin O’Connell said outside the courthouse. “We work with those guys daily. We’re there to protect them when we’re on detail.
Unfortunately, what happened yesterday, nobody saw coming.”
National Grid employees in line to enter Waltham District Court, Dec.
7, 2023. One of their colleagues and a Waltham Police officer were killed the previous afternoon when a man crashed his pickup truck through a utility worksite, officials said. (Will Katcher/MassLive).Will Katcher/MassLive
Simon will return to Waltham District Court for a dangerousness hearing on Dec.
14.
In court on Thursday, prosecutors said that before driving through the worksite, Simon struck another vehicle as he attempted to pull a U-turn on Totten Pond Road in his Ford F-150.
Assistant District Attorney Christopher Tarrant said Simon then drove another quarter-mile down the street in an apparent attempt to flee before he veered into the National Grid construction site, where Tracey was working a police detail.
First responders work the scene of a crash in Waltham, Mass., after a person in a vehicle struck and injured utility workers before stealing a police cruiser, Wednesday, Dec.
6, 2023. The driver in the suburb of Boston crashed the cruiser before being captured, law enforcement officials said.AP Photo/Michael Casey
After crashing into multiple vehicles, Simon ditched his pickup truck, ran to a local home and banged on the door.
As a Waltham police officer responding to the crash arrived, Simon pulled a knife on the officer and hijacked their police cruiser, prosecutors said.
Simon drove away, hitting multiple other police cars before crashing the cruiser on Winter Street. A Waltham officer arrested Simon after a brief chase, prosecutors said.
Dozens of police officers from Waltham, the Massachusetts State Police, Watertown, Natick and Weston crowded into the courtroom Thursday morning alongside dozens more employees of National Grid.
“It’s important to remember that these two men were doing their job, at 4 in the afternoon, when they were killed,” Middlesex District Attorney Marion Ryan said at a press conference Wednesday night. “Crashes like this happen far too often. It reminds us all of the dangers that officers and workers face when they are out on the roadways, performing their jobs.”
A Waltham Police cruiser parked alongside a National Grid line truck outside Waltham District Court, Dec.
7, 2023.
A day earlier, a man crashed through a National Grid worksite in Waltham, killing a utility employee and a city police officer working a traffic detail, officials said. (Will Katcher/MassLive).Will Katcher/MassLive
Tracey was a compassionate police officer who “always looked out for the underdog,” O’Connell said Wednesday night.
“He was an amazing husband, a loving father and a friend to all, especially to the men and women at this police department,” O’Connell said.
In addition to two counts of manslaughter and the count of armed robbery, Simon is accused of unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle, larceny of a motor vehicle, negligent operation of a motor vehicle, assault with a dangerous weapon and related charges.
Simon is represented by a public defender appointed from the Committee for Public Counsel Services.
Of the two other National Grid employees hurt in the crash, one was treated at a local hospital and released, the district attorney’s office said.
There was no information provided about the condition of the other worker.
References
- ^ running his pickup truck (www.masslive.com)
- ^ Authorities said (www.middlesexda.com)
- ^ Officer Paul Tracey (www.masslive.com)
- ^ Roderick Jackson (www.masslive.com)