A Massachusetts beekeeper has been sentenced to six months in jail after releasing swarms of bees on sheriff's deputies attempting to evict an elderly friend with cancer. Rebecca Woods, 59, admitted under questioning that she freed the insects to disrupt the eviction, according to a district court in Springfield.
Several officers were stung on their heads and faces, with one requiring hospital treatment. The incident, captured on video, shows deputies shouting as Woods lifted the lids of hives stacked on a trailer. During her arrest, about a thousand bees died, many crushed when hives toppled or from delivering their stings.
Woods's lawyer, Mary Saldarelli, said her client acted out of a desire to protect her friend from predatory lenders and the humiliation of eviction. Woods had experienced evictions herself and wanted to help the 80-year-old cancer patient, who was at a library seeking to halt the process.
A jury acquitted Woods of seven felonies but convicted her of four misdemeanor counts of assault and battery and two counts of reckless assault. She has filed an appeal and maintains her innocence. The eviction ultimately proceeded, with Sheriff Nick Cocchi stating that his office aims to help people through difficult situations.
