A Massachusetts woman was arrested and charged with assault after she allegedly sent a swarm of bees on sheriff’s deputies trying to carry out an eviction notice.
The incident took place in Longmeadow, Massachusetts on Wednesday, Oct. 12, when Rorie Susan Woods, 55, stopped in her blue Nissan Xterra at the 49 Memery Lane crime scene.
According to a Hampden County Sheriff’s Department official, the woman drove to the trailer being pulled by her car around 9:15 a.m.
Woods left her dog in the car while she tried to open the container with the bees.
Rorie Susan Woods, 55, donned a beekeeper costume after she released the bugs on sheriff’s officers and bystanders near her boyfriend’s house
Woods, 55, has been charged with assault and use of a dangerous weapon
As the woman tried to release the swarm, a sheriff’s deputy tried to stop her, according to HCSD officials.
However, the bees, starting to hatch, began to circle the area, forcing the deputy to retreat.
After repeated attempts to lift the lid, Woods instead decided to smash the top and flip the container off the flatbed.
The bees were immediately agitated and ‘extremely aggressive’.
Nearby bystanders and officers were stung as the insects swarmed.
The bees were boxed on Woods’ trailer attached to her SUV
Woods, who previously owned the hive, then donned a beekeeper suit to protect himself. The middle-aged woman then took a tower of the bees to the front door of the house.
Law enforcement officers said she used the insects to halt an eviction that had been “stop and go” for more than a year and a half.
Zillow shows the house at 49 Memery Ln. is 9,563 square feet with seven bedrooms and nine bathrooms. Its estimated value is $1,515 million.
According to public records, the house has been owned by one family since 1979.
The move was new to experienced delegates.
“In all my years leading the Civil Affairs Division of the Hampden County Sheriff, I have never seen anything like it,” said Robert Hoffman, chief deputy for the Civil Affairs Division.
After Woods carried the hive to the door, she reportedly tried to make the bees angrier, although it was not described how.
The woman had dumped the bees from the trailer in an attempt to stir them up, according to officials at the Hampden County Sheriff’s Department
Sheriffs’ deputies tried unsuccessfully to contain the animals after the bees were released by Woods, even struggling with the woman to stop her.
When the bees calmed down, Woods was arrested and transported to the Western Massachusetts Regional Women’s Correctional Facility.
“I’m just thankful no one died because bee allergies are serious. I hope that in the future these protesters from outside the province will consider taking such extreme measures because they will be charged and prosecuted.”
Woods is facing four counts of assault and battery using a dangerous weapon, officials say.
She has also been indicted on three counts of . She now faces four counts of assault and assault with a dangerous weapon, three counts of assault with a dangerous weapon and one count of disorderly conduct, officials said Wednesday.
People dodging evictions aren’t new to deputies from the Hampden County Sheriff’s Civil Trial Division. The department serves hundreds of eviction orders each year, according to HCSD.
However, the effort this woman made was new.
A spokesperson for HCSD said the deputies were in the final phase of this eviction, the removal phase, when the incident occurred.
“We are always prepared for protests when it comes to evictions, but a majority of the groups protesting understand that we are simply doing our legal duty in accordance with state law,” said Hampden County Sheriff Nick Cocchi.
“But this woman, who has traveled here, has put lives at risk, as some of the staff on site are allergic to bees. We had an employee go to the hospital and luckily he was fine or she would be charged with manslaughter.
“I support people’s right to protest peacefully, but if you cross the border and endanger my staff and the public, I promise you will be arrested.”
Woods was released on personal recognition, according to the Boston Globe and she will next appear at a preliminary examination scheduled for December 9.
in 2018, MassLive reported that the woman herself had been evicted from her home in Hadley, Massachusetts after years of struggle.
Woods, who was disabled at the time, said she was given a $10,000 bail to continue the appeal of her eviction.
When the article came out, the woman was living in a tent on a friend’s property.
Woods told the Massachusetts news outlet that they had been destroyed in storage.
She also said she was battling cancer and treatments were interrupted by the eviction process and ensuing battle.
“The eviction process is clearly armed by the courts to thwart my appeal, which has every chance of success thanks to case law,” Woods said.