Video Shows Volunteer LAPD Cop Being Swarmed By Bees And Tumbling To Ground

A volunteer LAPD officer is seen in widely shared video being stung multiple times and ultimately stumbling his way into a full-blown fall while responding to a call about bees.

According to a local report from KABC, the deeply documented debacle began with a “swarm” in the Encino area on Monday afternoon. The publication notes that a bee expert has since been called to the scene, where a hive is believed to have been removed from beneath the roof of a home.

While several people in the area are reported to have been stung, it’s the volunteer officer seen in the footage embedded above (and directly below) who has received the bulk of the ensuing news coverage.

The LAPD has since addressed the incident, saying in a press release that a West Valley Division Volunteer and his partner “were on patrol” at the time of the swarm they, in the words of a department rep, “stopped to assist with traffic control at a Los Angeles Fire Department call for service involving a bee sting.”

Per the department, the volunteer officer in question was “stung multiple times in the face and eyes.” He was later taken to a nearby hospital to receive treatment for the stings, as well as for a fractured eye socket. As of Tuesday, he was in stable condition and expected to recover.

As for whether this was worth it, the word “volunteer,” by its very definition, would surely suggest that it wasn’t.