Handling protestors is all in a day's work for police officers across the world. From facing abuses to defending themselves against projectiles such as stones, there is not much they are not ready for. However, deputies from the Sheriff's Department in Hampden County, Massachusetts, recently faced something that they would have never imagined even in their wildest dreams: a protestor attacking them with thousands of bees.
The bizarre incident occurred on 12 October 2022 in Longmeadow, Hamden County, when members of the Sheriff's Civil Process Division were executing an eviction order at a home. Rorie Susan Woods, 55, a resident of Hadley, Hamden County (over 20 miles from Hamden County), drove to the location with several bee hive towers and set the insects upon the deputies, injuring several of them. She was arrested, arraigned, and released without bail.
Stating that he had never "seen something like this", Robert Hoffman, Chief Deputy of the Civil Process Office, said in a statement: "I'm just thankful no one died because bee allergies are serious. I hope that these out-of-county protesters will reconsider using such extreme measures in the future because they will be charged and prosecuted." Woods faces multiple charges of assault and battery.
Unleashing Thousands of Bees
According to the statement, deputies from the Sheriff's Civil Process Division were enforcing a court-ordered eviction at a house—that has been under the process of eviction for nearly two years—in the Memery Lane area of Longmeadow on the morning of 12 October. Several protestors were also present on site to oppose the eviction. Importantly, Woods was not a resident of the house and lived in Hadley, around 25 miles away from Longmeadow.
At around 9:15 am, when the officers were at the mentioned residence, Woods arrived in her SUV with a trailer carrying multiple bee hive towers in tow. She got out of the vehicle and began "shaking" a hive and tried to release the thousands of bees stored in it. A deputy immediately boarded the trailer and attempted to stop Woods. However, she managed to smash the lid of the tower, causing bees to escape and sting the deputy several times on his head and face.
Following this, Woods tossed the entire hive tower on the ground, which agitated the bees it held, and caused them to swarm the area. Several deputies were stung as a result. The 55-year-old, however, was not done. She wore a beekeeper's suit and moved on to another tower with the intention of releasing more bees. Luckily, she was stopped by the deputies and apprehended.
Injuring Several Deputies
After being arrested, the Woods called out to another protester and asked them to take care of her pet dog who had accompanied her and was in the SUV. As she was being walked to the department's cruiser, a deputy informed Woods that he and some of his colleagues were allergic to bees. She responded: "Oh, you're allergic? Good."
Nick Cocchi, Sheriff of Hamden County, commented that the department is always prepared to handle protests at evictions. However, he noted that most protesters know that his office is carrying out its statutory duty in accordance with the law.
"But this woman, who traveled here, put lives in danger as several of the staff on the scene are allergic to bees. We had one staff member go to the hospital and luckily, he was alright or she would be facing manslaughter charges," he added. Following her arrest, Woods was arraigned and released without bail. She faces seven felonies and one misdemeanor charge and is set to appear in court at a later date.
