Inmate charged after hammer attack

TORONTO - Two jail guards suffered minor injuries and an inmate is in hospital with 200 stitches after a melee at the Toronto West Detention Centre.

The prisoner allegedly tried to attack officers with a roof hammer that was smuggled inside the jail.

An internal prison review is underway and security measures gave been intensified following the Dec. 18 incident.

Toronto Police alleged a suspected parole violator took out a hammer and started attacking correctional services officers after they removed his handcuffs and shackles so he could be booked at the jail.

The man allegedly uttered death threats as he smashed computers and office furniture in the prison admitting area, where inmates are searched and issued prison clothing, officers said.

He was eventually subdued after being tackled by officers. Police said "he suffered some cuts."

Toronto Police spokesman Const. Tony Vella said the force is working with the correctional services ministry to probe the incident. He refused comment citing an investigation.

Corrections services spokesman Anthony Brown also refused comment due to the probe.

Dan Sidsworth, of the Ontario Public Service Union, Local 517, said the 9 a.m. incident occurred in the admitting area.

Jail workers alleged the prisoner caused thousands of dollars worth of damage to the office.

"There was significant damage to the office," Sidsworth said. "This attack was unprecedented and we are lucky someone wasn't killed."

He said the attack has prompted security changes and incoming prisoners are now being searched and checked by metal detectors before their restraints are removed.

Officers are also trying to take their handcuffs, batons and pepper spray with them inside the jail. They, like cops, currently have to leave their weapons outside.

"Our officers are pretty shaken up by this," Sidsworth said. "The cycle of violence has dramatically increased in prisons."

Russell Prowe, 27, of Toronto, faces two counts of attempted murder.

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Two workers dead after electrocution

EDMONTON - Two farm workers -- aged 62 and 54 -- were fatally electrocuted in south Edmonton after the grain auger they were moving touched an overhead power line.

The deaths are the fourth and fifth fatal electrocutions in the province this year related to negligence around overhead power lines, safety advocates say.

"The number one thing you have to ask yourself when working outside is, 'Where is the power line?'" said EPCOR Utilities spokesman Tim LeRiche.

EPCOR -- which builds, owns and operates electrical transmission and distribution networks -- was called to the rural area near Ellerslie Road and Meridian Street just before 4 a.m. Friday after a farmer called 911 to report the electrocutions.

On Thursday night, the victims were attempting to transport a grain auger -- over 10 meters in length and blue in colour -- when it came into contact with the power line.

Police say there is no foul play suspected and officers were notifying next of kin Friday afternoon.

EPCOR crews shut off power to the line when they arrived on scene.

"EPCOR's number one priority is the safety of the public and our staff," LeRiche said.

"We've teamed up with the Joint Utility Safety Team to increase awareness about power-line safety."

The Joint Utility Safety Team (JUST) campaign 'Where's the Line' targets 18 to 50 year old male farm equipment operators.

Lyndsay Thorlacius, spokesperson for JUST, said up until Friday, there had already been three fatal power line electrocutions in the province.

"People are focused on moving their farm equipment and not on stationary objects like power lines," said Thorlacius.

"The key is planning your work ahead of time before you get out there."

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Man arrested after airport strip down

A San Diego, Calif., man has been arrested after he stripped down to his boxer shorts before an airport security pat-down.

Known as a gun advocate, Sam Wolanyk declined to go through a body scanner on his way to catch a flight to Barbados on Friday, so Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officers pulled him aside for a full-body pat-down, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported.

Wolanyk's lawer, Jason Davis, told the newspaper Wolanyk removed all his clothes except for his Calvin Klein boxers.

"It was obvious that my underwear left nothing to the imagination," Wolanyk told the San Diego Examiner. "But that wasn't enough for the TSA supervisor who was called to the scene and asked me to put my clothes on so I could be properly patted down."

In a statement to the Union-Tribune, Wolanyk said he had been patted down a week earlier and didn't want to go through the process again. He said he thought stripping down was a better alternative.

"I don't get scanned or groped, they can verify that I'm not a danger to anyone and the line would actually move more quickly because those pat-downs take time," he said.

After the supervisor asked Wolanyk to put his clothes back on, he refused.

He was then arrested. Davis told the Union-Tribune his client was charged with refusing to complete the security process at the airport and attempting to record the events on his iPhone.

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