Oxford, N.C. — A former Henderson police officer was placed on probation Monday after pleading guilty in a case that created an outcry among civil rights groups.

Anthony Dale "Tony" Finch, 45, of 264 Gun Club Road in Henderson, pleaded guilty to communicating threats and was placed on supervised probation for two years. Charges of ethnic intimidation, assault by pointing a gun and carrying a concealed weapon were dismissed.

Finch was accused on chasing after a black couple in a truck last June and shouting racial slurs and pointing a gun at them. Finch denied using racial slurs, saying he chased James Maye and Dionne Hensley only because they had threatened to shoot his stepson.

Officers investigating the case found a picture of Finch in a Ku Klux Klan outfit. He said it was a Halloween gag.

Finch retired from the Henderson Police Department about six years ago.