Bus driver attacked with hammer. Attacker screamed 'nasty things'
By JASON BUCKLAND, SUN MEDIA
The Toronto Sun
Irena Fodorova said she was shocked when she saw a young woman board a North York TTC bus yesterday and start smacking the driver with the sharp end of a hammer.
"There were lots of kids and elderly people around watching," the 43-year-old Whitby woman said.
"We couldn't believe it was happening."
Accusing the driver of missing her stop earlier in the day, the attacker boarded the bus on Grandravine Dr., near the Jane St.-Finch Ave. area, and began swinging at her, Fodorova said.
"She was screaming nasty, nasty things, yelling 'You didn't stop for me!' " Fodorova said.
PASSENGERS INTERVENE
Along with two other passengers, Fodorova leaped to restrain the woman -- who police said may be "emotionally disturbed" -- taking away the hammer and pinning her down until cops arrived.
"She was bleeding from the hands from trying to stop the attack," Fodorova said of the driver, who was taken to hospital with minor injuries.
Toronto Police Const. Tony Vella said cops are thankful for the quick thinking of the three brave passengers, who prevented something that could have been "a lot worse."
TTC spokesman Brad Ross assured Toronto about the safety of the transit agency's vehicles, calling the assault a "very rare occurrence."
"When you're carrying a million and a half people each day, from time to time you're going to have altercations," he said.
"It's important to remember how quickly police responded to the situation. The system did work."
Ross said that in addition to a silent alarm, TTC vehicles are equipped with closed-circuit cameras.
Transparent barriers designed to protect bus and streetcar drivers could be installed in the vehicles as early as this fall.
Chelsea Simon, 23, of Toronto, faces charges including assault with a weapon.
Story with PIC:
http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Crime/20...98531-sun.html