Suspect accused of killing police officer and utility worker in Waltham arraigned on manslaughter charges
WALTHAM, MASS. (WHDH) - A New Hampshire man accused of killing a police officer and utility worker in Waltham[1] appeared in court to face numerous charges Thursday morning, including two counts of manslaughter after he allegedly caused a fatal crash and led authorities on a pursuit after stealing a police cruiser. Peter Simon, 54, of Woodsville, New Hampshire, stood in Waltham District Court where he was arraigned on charges of manslaughter as well as armed robbery, hours after a deadly multi-vehicle crash on Totten Pond Road he is accused of causing. According to the Middlesex District Attorney's Office, it was around 4 p.m. on Wednesday when Simon drove a pickup truck headed eastbound on the roadway when he began to make a U-turn.
District Attorney Marian Ryan said Simon then struck a vehicle while trying to make the turn, before then heading further down Totten Pond Road, soon hitting the Waltham police officer and a National Grid worker. The officer, Paul Tracey, 58, had been working a roadside detail when he was struck. Ryan did not immediately identify the National Grid worker who was killed at the time, only describing him as a 36-year-old from Cambridge.
Authorities later confirmed the man killed was Roderick Jackson. Two other National Grid workers were injured in the crash, which Simon allegedly drove away from before striking at least two other vehicles, then abandoning his truck to flee on foot into a nearby neighborhood. There, Ryan said Simon encountered a Waltham police officer, allegedly pulled a knife, stole the officer's cruiser, and fled the scene.
The district attorney said Simon later crashed the cruiser on Winter Street in Waltham. With police in pursuit, Ryan said, he was subsequently taken into custody. "Other officers who were responding, attempting to stop this defendant several times - each time, the defendant would veer his car into the oncoming officers," Prosecutor Christopher Tarrant stated to the court on Thursday.
A not guilty plea was entered on Simon's behalf while numerous police officers watched on as they filled the courtroom a day after the crash and chase. Outside, more officers as well as a large group of National Grid workers stood by as a judge ordered the suspect be held without bail ahead of a dangerousness hearing. Speaking to reporters, Waltham Police Chief Kevin O'Connell detailed the support being shown for their fellow officer and the other victim killed on Wednesday.
"We're here today in solidarity, not only with my fallen officer but with [the] National Grid worker, too, as well. We're there to protect them when we're on detail. Unfortunately what happened yesterday - nobody saw it coming," O'Connell said. "So I'm with my brother and sister officers here in support of the families - Officer Tracey's family and the Roderick family - for their loss.
That's why you saw the police presence here today. We're going to continue to support our officers and their families and the National Grid workers." This is a developing story; stay with 7NEWS on-air and online for the latest updates.
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