WALTHAM, Mass. — The family of the National Grid worker killed in the Waltham crash last week plans to take civil action.
An attorney for Roderick Jackson’s family says 54-year-old Peter Simon, who is accused of driving into a worksite was a ‘‘habitual offender and shouldn’t be driving in the first place.”
“The system failed these two innocent men and we intend to seek civil justice to the fullest to avenge Mr. Jackon’s tragic passing which we hope can bring some semblance of peace to the Jackson family in due time,” a statement from Attorney Thomas Flaws of the Boston firm Altman Nussbaum and Shunnarah says. He is representing the Jackson family.
“Really, we’re looking to bring a civil case because the family wants answers,” he said.
Roderick Jackson of Cambridge was working with a National Grid team on Totten Pond Road when prosecutors say 54-year-old Peter Simon, of New Hampshire, veered his pickup truck into the work area, hitting and killing him, as well as 58-year-old Waltham officer Paul Tracey.
Flaws says he wants to talk with Simon on the record once his trial is finished.
“I want to hear from him when I can, yes. He’s not going to testify for me while the criminal case is still going, but he will at some point,” said Flaws.
In 2009, Simon was found not guilty by reason of insanity for a very similar crash in New Hampshire.
“It’s hard to imagine how he [Jackson] got up that day to go to work, do his job like any other day, and never came home,” Flaws said. “It’s unimaginable.”
Jackson played basketball at Framingham State University, helped local hospitals, and even ran his own laundromat.
The utility company said Jackson had been working as a technician on the gas operations team since early 2021 when the crash occurred.
A public funeral for Roderick Jackson is planned for Saturday morning in Cambridge.
Simon is being held without bail pending a dangerousness hearing on Dec. 14.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.
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