A 55-year-old Massachusetts woman is facing multiple assault and battery charges for allegedly unleashing a swarm of bees on a group of sheriff’s deputies as they attempted to serve an eviction notice.
Rorie Woods, who lives in Hadley, is accused of carrying out the attack while Hampden County Sheriff’s Department officers were processing an eviction notice at a Longmeadow home.
She arrived in an SUV towing a number of beehives and began “shaking” them, breaking the lid off one and causing hundreds of bees to swarm and initially sting a deputy, in an attempt to stop the eviction.
Woods donned a beekeeper’s suit for protection and was eventually arrested, but not before several other staff were stung, including three who were allergic to bees, according to an official department report.
When Woods learned of this, she replied, “Oh, are you allergic? Good,” according to the report.
Hampden County Sheriff Nick Cocchi said: ‘We sent a staff member to the hospital and luckily he was fine.
He said Woods could have faced more serious charges if something worse had happened to those who were stung.
Woods faces multiple assault and battery charges. Pic: Hampden County Sheriff’s Department via AP
She pleaded not guilty to charges related to the Oct. 12 incident in Springfield District Court and was released without bond.
It’s unclear what connection Woods has to the property where the eviction notice was served.
