TURNER – A Snell Hill Road man was in jail Wednesday night, accused of hitting a neighbor with a pipe in a late Tuesday incident that also involved gunshots.

Eugene Jordan, 57, was charged with aggravated assault and could face weapons charges after state police said they found rifles in a car at his home.

The drama began shortly before midnight when a neighbor went to Jordan’s home believing that Jordan may have been responsible for the death of his dog.

According to state Trooper Tyler Stevenson, Jordan’s neighbor Stanley Hathaway had received a message on his telephone answering machine that made reference to the death of Hathaway’s Pomeranian.

When Hathaway went to Jordan’s door, words were exchanged, an aluminum pipe was produced and Hathaway was struck in the upper part of the body.

Police said Hathaway did not suffer serious injuries but that a gun was fired as Hathaway retreated from the home.

“After he got hit, he saw someone holding a gun,” Stevenson said. “He heard gunshots.”

Police said a Jordan family member later admitted to firing shots into the air in an attempt to scare Hathaway off.

Jordan called police more than an hour after the incident, saying he was the victim of an attack, Stevenson said.

When state police and Androscoggin County Sheriff’s deputies went to the scene, they wanted to search Jordan’s home.

Because of past felony assault convictions, Jordan is prohibited from possessing guns. Police believed there were guns at the house but were not allowed to enter until they obtained a warrant.

Ultimately, police found five rifles and shotguns in a vehicle parked in the yard, Stevenson said. Because of that, Jordan could face an additional charge of being a felon in possession of firearms. State police were continuing to investigate the source of the guns.

A woman who was at Jordan’s home when the alleged assault occurred said the family knew nothing about Hathaway’s dog. She told a reporter that Hathaway had come to the house swinging a baseball bat and that Jordan was only defending himself.

Police said evidence indicated that Jordan, not Hathaway, was the assailant. They are investigating the death of Hathaway’s dog, but Stevenson said there was no immediate evidence that Jordan was involved.

Jordan remained at the Androscoggin County Jail on Wednesday night on $5,000 bail.

In 2005, Jordan was at the center of controversy when a different neighbor filed a civil suit against him, alleging that Jordan’s automobile junkyard polluted a nearby river and decreased the value of neighboring homes.

The five-year legal battle ended when a jury decided the case in Jordan’s favor, ruling that he did not owe the neighbor any compensation.

At the time of the civil trial, Jordan was also charged with assault, accused of shoving a neighbor to the ground a year earlier. The charge was considered a felony because of Jordan’s previous assault convictions. However, it was later dismissed.