Anarchist activist Rorie Woods took drastic measures to save the home of an unnamed associate. In an unsuccessful attempt to prevent an eviction, she unleashed a swarm of bees. Sheriff’s deputies weren’t happy about it. They charged her on assault with a dangerous weapon.
Dangerous swarm of bees
Rorie Woods unleashed a dangerous swarm of bees to attack sheriff’s deputies attempting a court-ordered eviction in Longmeadow, Massachusetts. She definitely did it on purpose.
“Woods allegedly pulled up to the home where the eviction was taking place, got out of her SUV and walked back to the flatbed trailer she had towed to the tony neighborhood.” The small town lies along the Connecticut state line.
That’s when she unleashed her swarm. “Hundreds of bees from the hives she had brought.” That wasn’t nice, the sheriff’s office declares. As reported by Washington Post, “multiple deputies were stung before they could arrest Woods.” That got the Queen a new hive of her own.
Massachusetts Woman Accused Of Unleashing Swarm Of Bees On Officers Carrying Out Eviction Orderhttps://t.co/wtEkxHVZki
— Rantingly.com (@rantinglydotcom) October 20, 2022
She’s been booked in on “four counts of felony assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, three counts of felony assault with a dangerous weapon, and disorderly conduct, a misdemeanor.”
Letting loose a swarm of attack bees “put lives in danger as several of the staff on scene are allergic,” Sheriff Nick Cocchi related in a statement. “We had one staff member go [to] the hospital and luckily, he was alright or she would be facing manslaughter charges.”
Several deputies and innocent bystanders were stung bad enough to be sent to the hospital. When one of them told Woods that he and several of his fellow deputies were allergic to bees, she wasn’t sympathetic. “Oh, you’re allergic? Good,” she allegedly replied. The judge will remember that at sentencing.
Not guilty, she pleas
The 55-year-old Woods “pleaded not guilty to all eight charges. She could not immediately be reached Wednesday, and her lawyer didn’t respond to a request for comment.” She can claim she didn’t bring her own swarm of attack bees but there is a bunch of evidence against her.
According to the report, about 9:15 a.m. on October 12, “deputies arrived at a five-bed, 5½-bath colonial valued at nearly $1.3 million to execute an eviction order.” Angry activists met them there. “Several protesters had gathered at the apex of the cul-de-sac. Informed that the occupant was at the courthouse in a last-ditch effort to delay the eviction, deputies waited for him to return.”
That’s about when Woods and her swarm arrived. “Minutes later, Woods pulled her blue Nissan Xterra into the driveway, towing four or five large bee hives,” Deputy Daniel Soto wrote in his report.
Woman accused of releasing swarm of bees to attack sheriff's deputies https://t.co/3ApSZTUGwG
— The National (@TheNationalNews) October 19, 2022
“Leaving her dog in the SUV, Woods allegedly went to the back of the trailer, shaking the hives to agitate the bees. Then, she went to open them.”
Deputy Michael Joslyn tried to stop the swarm from being released. While the deputy was trying to intervene, “Woods then allegedly broke the cover of a hive, causing hundreds of bees to swarm the area. Woods flipped one of the hives off the flatbed trailer, making the bees extremely aggressive.”
Deputy Joslyn “was then stung in the face and had to retreat.” It escalated even more. “After putting on a professional beekeeper’s suit, Woods allegedly opened more hives. She then rolled one off the flatbed trailer to the entryway of the house and ‘fully opened‘ it to block deputies, Soto wrote in his report. There, she allegedly tried to rile them up even more.”