Massachusetts woman accused of attacking deputies with bees during eviction

LONGMEADOW, Mass. – A Massachusetts woman is accused of attacking authorities with a swarm of bees to stop a court-ordered eviction in Longmeadow.

On Thursday, the Hampden County Sheriff’s Office announced on its Facebook page that around 9:30 a.m. on Oct. 12, Rorie Woods drove up in her Nissan Xterra with a flatbed trailer attached to the residence while deputies were serving an eviction order.

“She quickly jumped out of her SUV and began trying to free the thousands of bees in the manufactured hives as a deputy jumped in and tried to stop her,” the statement said.

The department said the deputy was stabbed several times in the face and head.

According to the sheriff’s office, Woods knocked an entire hive tower off its flat stand, which “extremely disturbed” the bees. Deputies said that led to the stabbing of several members of the sheriff’s office and other bystanders, according to the report.

Donning a beekeeping suit, deputies were able to arrest Woods as she attempted to return to the beehive closer to the home’s door, according to the release.

As the deputies were leading her to the cruise ship, one of them told her that he and several other deputies were allergic to bees.

“Oh, you’re allergic? Good,” she allegedly retorted, according to the report.

The sheriff’s office said one member of the department’s staff was hospitalized after being stabbed.

The Washington Post reported that several protesters gathered outside the residence, to which Woods yelled to ask them to take care of her dog, “who she said was not fed and left in an SUV with thousands of bees swarming outside.” according to the Washington Post. he said to the sheriff’s office.

According to the sheriff’s office, the 55-year-old woman did not live at the residence where deputies served the eviction notice.

Woods was arrested, charged and released by a judge without bail, but she will appear in court at a later date, the sheriff’s office said.

“Never in all my years leading the Hampden County Sheriff’s Office of Civil Process Division have I seen anything like this,” said Robert Hoffman, Chief Deputy of the Civil Process Office, in a statement. “I’m just thankful no one died because bee allergies are serious.”