The Waltham police officer and National Grid worker killed in a crash last week in Waltham, Massachusetts, are expected to be laid to rest this week.
According to an obituary for Officer Paul Tracey, his wake will be held on Thursday, from 3 to 8 p.m. at our Lady Comforter of the Afflicted Church in Waltham. Family, friends and members of the law enforcement community will gather on Friday, at 10 a.m. for a funeral mass at the same church, followed by burial with police honors at Mount Feake Cemetery in Waltham.
Full funeral arrangements for National Grid employee Roderick Jackson will be Saturday, Dec. 16. The family invites the public to visitation hours from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. at the St. Paul AME on Bishop Allen Drive and Columbia Street in Cambridge. It will be followed by funeral services. Details are available here.
Tracey was honored by the Waltham community on Thursday night, as a procession carrying his body made its way from the medical examiner's officer to the funeral home.
A candlelight vigil was held in Cambridge on Saturday to honor Jackson's memory, where family, friends and loved ones remembered him as a loving man whose life was taken too soon.
Tracey and Jackson were killed when a pickup driver crashed into them at a work site on Dec. 6 before pulling a knife on another officer, stealing his cruiser and crashing it. Two other utility workers were injured in the crash, and “multiple other vehicles” were struck by the truck before it was abandoned, authorities said. The two other workers were treated and released from the hospital.
After the cruiser crashed, police said they arrested the driver after a brief foot pursuit.
Peter Simon, 54, of Woodsville, New Hampshire, appeared in court Thursday and was arraigned on multiple charges, including two counts of manslaughter, armed robbery, assault and leaving the scene of an accident. A lawyer entered not guilty pleas on his behalf and a hearing date was scheduled for Dec. 14.
The events unfolded after Simon suddenly attempted to make a U-turn, striking a vehicle, prosecutors said.
In an attempt to flee the scene, prosecutors said, Simon continued for about a quarter mile before striking Tracey, 58, and Jackson, 36, of Cambridge. Tracey was working a police detail at a utility work site, a trench that was marked by orange cones and signs and yellow flashing lights, prosecutors said in court. The truck also struck a National Grid truck.
The truck kept going and struck other vehicles before Simon got out and fled, encountering another Waltham officer who was responding to the crash. Simon turned on the officer, brandishing a knife, before taking his cruiser and driving off, prosecutors said.
Other officers pursued Simon and tried to stop him, but each time, he would veer his car into an oncoming officer, prosecutors said. He ultimately crashed and was arrested following a brief foot chase.
Simon has a criminal history in New Hampshire dating back to 2009. He has served time in both the state corrections department secure psychiatric unit and in the state prison on charges including reckless conduct and assault.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
