WOODSTOCK, Va. — A sheriff in Virginia has apologized to a black pastor who was arrested after calling 911 on a group of white people who now face hate crime and assault charges.

Shenandoah County Sheriff Timothy Carter made the apology to pastor Leon K. McCray Sr. for how his deputies responded to the altercation in Edinburg this month.

McCray said the group threatened to kill him after he stopped them from dumping a refrigerator on his property. Arriving deputies arrested him instead, driving him away as the group shouted racist epithets.

Two sheriff's supervisors are now on unpaid leave pending an investigation.