Truck driver indicted on murder charges in crash that killed Massachusetts officer, utility worker

WALTHAM, Mass. (AP) — A pickup truck driver accused of crashing into and killing a police officer and a utility employee at a work site in a Boston suburb, then pulling a knife on another officer before stealing his cruiser, has been indicted on two counts of second degree murder and other charges, prosecutors and police said Wednesday.

Peter Simon, 54, of Woodsville, New Hampshire, also faces charges of motor vehicle homicide, armed robbery, armed carjacking, failing to stop for police, leaving the scene of a crash causing death, and other charges stemming from the Dec. 6 crashes in Waltham, the Middlesex District Attorney’s office and police said. He will be arraigned at a later date and is being held without bail.

Waltham Police Officer Paul Tracey, 58, and a National Grid utility worker, Roderick Jackson, 36, of Cambridge, were killed in the incident.

Simon’s attorney, Lynda Dantas, said by email Wednesday afternoon that she had not seen the indictments and could not comment.

Simon was driving when he pulled to the side of a road to attempt a U-turn, then turned back into the road, hitting a vehicle, prosecutors and police said. He continued driving and hit Tracey and Jackson at a utility work site, a trench that was marked by orange cones and signs and yellow flashing lights, prosecutors said. Tracey was working a police detail at the work site.

The pickup truck also struck a National Grid truck before striking multiple other vehicles, prosecutors said. Simon then abandoned his truck, fled on food and pulled a knife on another police officer and stole his cruiser and fled, officials said. He crashed the cruiser and was arrested.

Waltham is about 10 miles (16 kilometers) west of Boston.