A truck driver who fatally struck a Massachusetts police officer and a utility employee in Waltham, pulled a knife on another officer, stole his cruiser and crashed has been indicted on two counts of second degree murder, the Middlesex District Attorney's Office said.
Peter Simon, 54, of Woodsville, New Hampshire, was indicted by a Middlesex County Grand Jury on over 20 charges, including two counts of second degree murder, two counts of motor vehicle homicide, armed robbery, armed carjacking, three counts of assault with a dangerous weapon, larceny of a motor vehicle, four counts of operating to endanger, three counts of leaving the scene causing property damage, leaving the scene causing death, failure to stop for poice, two counts of wanton destruction of property and resisting arrest.
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He had previously been charged only with two counts of manslaughter, armed robbery, assault and leaving the scene of an accident. The indictment also moves the case from district to superior court.
Simon has been held without bail as he awaits trial stemming from the Dec. 6, 2023, crashes in Waltham that killed Waltham police Officer Paul Tracey, 58, and 36-year-old National Grid worker Roderick Jackson, of Cambridge. He is expected to be arraigned in Middlesex Superior Court at a later date.
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Simon has a lengthy criminal history, including a record of fleeing from authorities.
In front of a packed courtroom in January, prosecutors went into detail about the person Simon is and the lengthy criminal record he's accumulated up to this point.
Jackson's mother, brother and two sisters attended the hearing, and issued a statement afterward through their attorney thanking the community for their support and saying they have been closely monitoring the proceedings against Simon. They said they are pleased with the judge's decision to deny bail and plan to file a civil lawsuit against Simon in the near future.
Simon was driving a stolen Ford F-150 pickup truck on Totten Pond Road on Dec. 6 when he attempted to do a U-turn in traffic and struck a Jeep Wrangler, causing his truck to go up on two wheels before slamming back down and driving off, according to prosecutors.
About a quarter of a mile down the road, Simon is accused of crashing his truck into a police detail and National Grid crew working on a possible gas leak, killing Tracey and Jackson and injuring two other National Grid employees.
Prosecutors said subsequent investigation and a reconstruction of the crash conducted by Massachusetts State Police concluded Simon was accelerating at full throttle, driving about 62-63 mph at the time of the crash.
Additionally, the NBC10 Boston Investigators learned that Simon was involved in another police pursuit back in 2009 in Keene, New Hampshire. Police tried to fire several shots in an attempt to stop him, but he sped through a crowded parking lot at speeds of about 100 mph before crashing into a bus — almost taking the life of one man.
Instead of being criminally convicted, Simon was committed to a secure psychiatric unit and transferred to New Hampshire Hospital, where he underwent treatment. After five years, he was out of the hospital.
Simon's lawyer, Lynda Dantas, said some of the charges on his record were dismissed and mentioned there are “significant mental health issues here,” without specifying them.
