A Massachusetts beekeeper has been sentenced to six months in jail after releasing swarms of bees on sheriff's deputies who were attempting to carry out an eviction at a friend's home. Rebecca Woods, 59, insisted that she only opened the hives to allow the bees to enjoy the "lovely, flowering landscape" near the residence of an elderly friend who was battling cancer. However, a district court in Springfield, Massachusetts, heard that Woods admitted under questioning that her true intention was to prevent the eviction by deploying the bees in the presence of the deputies serving the eviction papers.
Incident Details
According to reports, several law enforcement officers were stung on their heads and faces, with one officer requiring hospital treatment. Additionally, approximately one thousand of Woods's bees perished during the encounter. Many were crushed when hives toppled as Woods struggled with deputies attempting to arrest her, while others died because female honeybees die after delivering their sting.
Nick Cocchi, the Hampden County sheriff, described the incident as "unlike anything our team has ever experienced." The confrontation was captured on video and released by the sheriff's office. In the footage, deputies can be heard shouting at Woods, with one exclaiming, "She's opening the bees!" A deputy is seen frantically waving his arms to shoo the insects away.
Court Proceedings
Woods, who donned her beekeeper's suit during the incident, drove to the property with hives stacked on a trailer pulled by her blue SUV. She proceeded to lift the lids of several hives, prompting a swarm of bees to fly around the front yard. During a subsequent tussle, two deputies threw her to the ground and arrested her. The court heard that Woods was informed that some deputies were allergic to bees, to which she replied, "Oh, you're allergic? Good!"
Mary Saldarelli, Woods's lawyer, told the New York Times that her client's comment was "a reaction to having your face put down in the pavement and being shoved there and kept there." Saldarelli explained that Woods had experienced multiple evictions herself and wanted to protect people from predatory lenders who charged exorbitant rates on non-mainstream mortgages. Her friend, a man in his 80s undergoing cancer treatment, had gone to a local library to file a motion to halt the eviction while Woods drove the bees to his house.
"It really was just a sincere hope that he would not suffer the humiliation and devastation of going through an eviction, of losing your home," Saldarelli said.
Legal Outcome
According to the Times, a jury acquitted Woods of seven felonies but convicted her of four misdemeanor counts of assault and battery and two counts of reckless assault. Saldarelli noted that her client would serve approximately another two weeks in jail, as she had been held without bail since her arrest at a motel in Tennessee and during a lengthy extradition process to Massachusetts. Woods maintains her innocence and has filed an appeal. "So she is not acquiescing in any way, shape or form," the lawyer said.
Aftermath
Ultimately, Woods's friend lost his home in Longmeadow, about five miles south of Springfield. Sheriff Cocchi stated, "We don't just show up to enforce an order. We try to help people through difficult situations. That commitment doesn't change, even in the face of something like this."
