A 42-year-old Port Townsend man has pleaded “not guilty” to second-degree assault with a deadly weapon after he allegedly pointed a gun at a man’s chest while trying to get him to move out of a rented motorhome in Port Hadlock.

Ty Edward Hodge was initially held in Jefferson County Jail on $5,000 bail. In addition to the felony count of second-degree assault, he is also facing a felony charge of first-degree burglary.

Hodge was arrested just before 11:30 a.m. Sunday, Oct. 9.

Hodge had called 911 roughly 45 minutes earlier to say that another man had swung a bat at him and he had aimed a gun at the man and then escaped into the nearby woods.

A short time later, the alleged assailant called 911 and said that Hodge had come into his home and pointed a gun at his chest.

Deputies contacted the resident who complained of being threatened with a gun and he told authorities that Hodge had pried open the door to the motorhome and once inside, an argument ensued about cleaning up and vacating the property.

Hodge was at the motorhome at the request of the property owner, and the resident said Hodge told him to get out while the man’s girlfriend was changing her clothes.

The man claimed Hodge kicked him in the chest and then pointed a gun at his chest, and said, “You’re a little bitch and you’ll do whatever I say!”

The man said he jumped out a window and started yelling that Hodge had a gun. The man also said he never swung a bat at Hodge and didn’t even have a bat.

A deputy contacted Hodge by phone, and he said he had been asked to help with the cleanup with the property. After some discussion, Hodge agreed to meet with a deputy in the library parking lot to give his side of the story, according to a statement of probable cause.

But when Hodge was seen heading the other way from the library, a deputy started to follow him and began driving at a high rate of speed. He was eventually stopped on D Street and taken into custody.

During his first appearance Monday in Jefferson County Superior Court, Deputy Prosecutor Melissa Pleimann noted that Hodge had 18 or so prior warrants for his arrest but no history of violent crime.

Pleimann also said Hodge’s right to possess firearms had been restored by the court about 45 days earlier.

The charges included very serious allegations, Pleimann added.

“Based on those allegations, and the use of a firearm, the state believes bail is appropriate at $25,000.”

But Attorney Scott Charlton said Hodge had a good record for showing up at his court proceedings.

“He doesn’t have a violent history,” Charlton said.

He added that the two accounts made by Hodge and the other man were at odds and there were “a lot of questions regarding what actually happened that will have to be sorted out later.”

Charlton said setting bail at $25,000 would be tantamount to no bail for Hodge, and asked Superior Court Judge Keith Harper to set bail at $5,000.

Harper agreed to the lower amount.

Hodge was arraigned on the two felony charges in superior court Friday, Oct. 14.

His trial was set to start Jan. 9.