A New Hampshire man has been arrested after hitting and killing a police officer and a National Grid utility worker in Waltham Wednesday, according to the Middlesex County District Attorney’s Office.
Authorities said that Peter Simon, 54, of Woodsville, New Hampshire, was driving a pickup truck on Totten Pond Road when he tried doing a U-turn at around 4 p.m. on Dec. 6, the office said.
As he was making the turn, Simon hit another vehicle and kept driving. Simon then fatally struck Waltham Police Officer Paul Tracey, 58, of Waltham and a utility worker, identified only as a 36-year-old Cambridge man.
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Tracey was working a police detail at a National Grid work site at the time of the crash, officials added. Two other National Grid employees were also injured in the crash. One has since been released from the hostpital.
There was no word on the other employee’s condition as of Thursday morning.
Simon continued driving, hitting multiple other vehicles before leaving his truck and running away, the district attorney’s office said. Simon ran into another Waltham officer and reportedly pulled a knife on them before stealing their cruiser and driving away, according to the office.
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Simon then crashed the cruiser on Winter Street, and ran away once again. He was eventually arrested by a Waltham Police Officer after a short foot chase, the office said.
Simon has been charged with two counts of manslaughter and armed robbery. Officials said more charges are likely following his arraignment in Waltham District Court Thursday.
The ongoing investigation is being conducted by the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office, Waltham Police and Massachusetts State Police Detectives assigned to the District Attorney’s Office.
The families of the victims have asked for privacy in this time, the district attorney’s office concluded.
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