Officer, Couple Vary in Account of Oxford Incident

Oxford, N.C. — Both parties are speaking out in a Granville County ethnic intimidation case.

Former Henderson Police Officer Anthony Finch is accused of chasing after a black couple. James Maye and Dionne Hensley say Finch shouted racial slurs and pointed a gun at them.

“I was hysterical. By the time we got to the police department, hysterical. My child could have been in the back seat of that car. He could have shot and killed us, he could have killed my child or anything else. This situation was uncalled for. Period,” Hensley said.

“If I’d have had any intent to hurt either one of these people, I could have done it well before Oxford,” Finch said. “I went to the police department and went in a circle twice, yelling out the window, ‘Stop that car.’”

“At no time did I make racial slurs, anything. If I had a thought for one minute this was about race, I would have never chased them down,” Finch said.

Police charged Finch with ethnic intimidation and pointing a firearm at the couple.

“There was several slander words used, even in the presence of the officers that were there,” Capt. Glen Boyd said.

They found a picture of Finch in a Ku Klux Klan outfit. He said it was a Halloween gag.

Finch says the couple threatened to shoot his stepson.

Maye and Hensley say they will file a complaint with the NAACP.

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Latest Comments

How can we expect our children to believe that words never hurt anyone when we don't practice what we preach. I can remember from early my childhood that Mama always said "stick & stones."

If someone calls you a name you don't like, laugh at them. That will usually end it, and you might even make a friend before it's all over.

Historians_XI
June 20, 2007 4:11 p.m.

wolfman132, I hope Jessie and Al know how much you love them. Every comment I read from you mostly reference them. Thnik outside the box

tooblessed
June 20, 2007 1:22 p.m.

they look mad in the picture. Kinda of like a couple ticked off opposums!

nbforrest
June 20, 2007 9:58 a.m.

These losers are talking about slander words. Words people, words,get over it. Get a life. If you feel so inferior, go see a shrink, or buy a caddy.

nbforrest
June 20, 2007 9:50 a.m.

The town's local paper says that the man followed them right into the police station parking lot. If this man meant them harm - why would he chase them to the police station? If he was waiving a gun and threatening them - would the police officers not have drawn their guns and possibly even shot this man? I certainly do not condone his behavior and think he should have just filed harrassment charges against this couple and even for communicating a threat. But this still begs the question - how did they expect this thing to play out when they began harrassing/threatening the stepson?

It's always funny to me how people scream about the reaction yet never look at how their own actions played into the end result.

Plenty of people in need of a refresher course in "personal responsibility/accountability". Plenty of others who are familiar with the term - yet think it only applies to everyone else.