WALTHAM, MA – A fatal incident unfolded in Waltham, Massachusetts, on Wednesday night, leaving two people dead and one man in custody. A police officer and a utility worker were both fatally struck by a driver who then stole a police cruiser, according to local authorities.
The incident reportedly started around 4 p.m. on Totten Pond Road. The accused, 54-year-old New Hampshire resident Peter Simon, allegedly hit a Jeep while attempting a U-turn. Middlesex County District Attorney Marian Ryan explained Simon then continued driving down the road, subsequently striking a 58-year-old Waltham police officer, Paul Tracey, and a 36-year-old National Grid worker from Cambridge.
Tracey had been assigned to a police detail at the National Grid worksite. Two other workers at the site were also harmed in the incident, with one requiring hospitalization.
Following the fatal encounter, Simon proceeded to crash into at least two other vehicles before deciding to flee on foot. Upon meeting a responding Waltham police officer, Simon allegedly brandished a knife and seized possession of a police cruiser. This reckless action ended with the vehicle crashing on Winter Street and Simon attempting to flee once more, but he was successfully apprehended.
Simon faces two manslaughter charges and an armed robbery charge currently, but as the investigation continues, Ryan suggested there may be more charges on the horizon. Simon is scheduled for arraignment in Waltham District Court on Thursday morning.