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Three charged in tree-cutting incident
Suspects arrested Monday at Dahlonega Hwy. home
0614TreeWord
Jennifer Word

Two men suspected of felling a tree at a Cumming business and dragging it off before abandoning it in the middle of Ga. 20 have been arrested.

As of Monday night, Stanley Hendrix and Raymond Solano remained in custody at the Forsyth County Detention Center.

The men, as well as Hendrix's fiancé, Jennifer Word, were arrested earlier in the day at a Dahlonega Highway home, said Karleen Chalker with the Forsyth County Sheriff's Office.

Hendrix, 39, was charged with reckless conduct and first degree criminal damage, as well as one count of obstruction of an officer.

He is being held on $12,870 bond, according to jail records.

Solano, 30, faces the same charges. His bond has been set at $11,715.

Bond for Word, 25, who has been charged with obstruction of an officer, was set at $1,155, according to jail records.

Cumming police officials have previously said the men will also face traffic-related offenses.

The charges stem from an unusual incident, captured by security cameras, that occurred about 8 p.m. June 2 at Southern Cinema Design on Canton Road.

Security camera footage shows a man getting out of an older Ford F-150 pickup with a rope in his hands.

Later footage shows him and another man getting back into the truck and driving off with a 25-foot-tall Bradford pear tree trailing behind.

The tree, which was tied to the truck's trailer hitch, was dragged about 300 feet before it struck a curb and got stuck in the middle of the busy highway.

In the aftermath, the rope snapped and reportedly struck and killed a cat.