Three arrested in Cumming tree cutting case

CUMMING - Three people have been arrested in a tree cutting incident at a Cumming business earlier this month.

Forsyth County Sheriff's Department spokeswoman Karleen Chalker said 39-year-old Stanley Hendrix, 30-year-old Raymond Anthony Saldano and 25-year-old Jennifer Hope Word, all of Cumming, were picked up at a Dahlonega Highway residence Monday night.

Chalker said Cumming police conducted the investigation and turned over information to the Sheriff's Department to execute the warrants.

"We were able to locate these individuals pretty readily with information that we had gathered," said Chalker. "I was not difficult to find them."

Hendrix and Word are currently free on bond. Saldano posted bond Monday night, but was arrested shortly after his release on charges unrelated to the tree cutting.

"DUI, drugs and having no seat belt; [he was arrested] about two hours after he was released on bond," said Chalker.

The three are accused of cutting down a Bradford pear tree at Southern Cinema Design on June 2, chaining the tree to a truck and dragging it down Highway 20. The tree was left in the middle of the highway when it came loose from the truck.