Massive Bee Hive Behind Encino Attacks Removed

ENCINO, CA — A Los Angeles Police Department volunteer officer remains hospitalized after being attacked by a swarm of bees in Encino this week, and his son is asking for help covering his medical expenses.

The bees were removed Wednesday from the wall of a home where they built their massive hive, Izak Kharrazi of All Valley Honey & Bee told Patch.

The attack was captured on video. It shows the volunteer — identified by his son as Gary — trying to escape the swarm by getting back into his patrol vehicle, but the bees surround him and begin stinging him repeatedly until he falls to the ground breaking his eye socket. He lays in the street being stung over and over again until help arrives.

The excruciating scene prompted an outpouring of support, and a GoFundMe page created by his son raised more than $10,000 in a day.

The volunteer put himself in jeopardy trying to help others, according to the Los Angeles Police Department. He and his partner arrived in the 17100 block of West Adlon Road where paramedics were treating a person who had been attacked by the bees Monday afternoon. As the paramedics transported the victim to the hospital, the volunteers sought to conduct traffic control to keep others from being attacked by the swarm.

The swarm rapidly expanded, soon involving hundreds, if not thousands, of bees centered around a hive in eaves of a home nearby, according to the LAPD.

"He attempted to swat the bees away but was stung multiple times in the face and eyes, causing him to lose his footing and fall to the ground," the LAPD said in a written statement.

Kharrazi, of All Valley Honey & Bee, told CBS2 Monday the swarm was bigger and more aggressive than he anticipated.

"There is like a cloud of hundreds of bees over there," he told the station. "I said, `Oh, boy' ... that's why right away I put my gear on, because I can see them. They're mad as could be...This is not a normal behavior for these bees to be this angry, to want to kill you. This is not OK."

It wasn't until Wednesday that Kharrazi was able to safely excavate the bees. "They weren't killer bees," he told Patch. "They were just extremely agitated because someone had agitated them."

It will be a long time before Gary recovers from his encounter with the riled up bees.

Gary's son, identified as Daniel on the GoFundMe page, explained that his dad may still need surgery for his injuries.

"I'm fundraising for my dad, Gary, who was heartbreakingly featured on television as being overcome by killer bees and falling to the ground with the fire department nearby," he wrote. "Dad has been a volunteer for the LAPD for nearly 18 years, has been a first responder to many incidents, and helped save many lives by calling in paramedics to accident scenes, directing traffic around dangerous areas, and even making good decisions about when to step in and say help clear a baby's airway when it was suffering from RSV and stopped breathing before paramedics could arrive.

"Unfortunately, while his job gets a lot of praise, we recently found out he'll be on the hook for his own medical expenses through Medicare, since volunteers are not considered city employees. Further, he's had to indemnify the LAPD and the city against any injuries he gets `on duty' and even pay for his own uniform and gear necessary to carry out those duties.

"It's looking like we, his family, will need to go to bat for him here, as he's going to be in the hospital for several more days to be stabilized enough for facial surgery. So we're hoping those out there that have any ties to or have been helped by these community officers, or even just want to keep them around and help protect them from harm's way, can donate to get Gary back on his feet as soon as possible."