Peter Simon, the 54-year-old New Hampshire man accused of crashing a truck into a Waltham police officer and a National Grid worker, is set to face manslaughter and armed robbery charges in Waltham District Court Thursday.
Around 4 p.m. Wednesday, Simon, a Woodsville resident, was driving on Totten Pond Road in Waltham when he fatally struck 58-year-old Waltham resident Paul Tracey, as well as a 36-year-old Cambridge man, with his truck, the Middlesex County District Attorney’s Office said.
Tracey was a Waltham officer and was working a police detail at a National Grid site at the time, the district attorney’s office said. The Cambridge man, who has not been identified, was a National Grid employee who was working at the site.
Police block a roadway 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)AP Photo/Michael Casey
During the incident, Simon also struck and injured two other National Grid employees and hit several other vehicles, the district attorney’s office said. While trying to flee the scene, officials said he pulled a knife on another Waltham officer and stole his cruiser. He was eventually arrested after a short foot chase.
Simon has been charged with two counts of manslaughter and one count of armed robbery, but the district attorney’s office said he will likely face more charges.
