BAY CITY, MI -- A Bay City teen tried running over two men he blamed for getting him in trouble with the law, police allege.

At 1:16 p.m. Thursday, March 17, police responded to a complaint near 31st and Webster streets in the city's South End. A 17-year-old male said he was doing some yard work near the curb when a vehicle drove toward him. The vehicle swerved across the street at the teen, prompting him to leap onto a lawn extension to avoid being struck, he told police.

The teen told police he recognized the vehicle's driver as 18-year-old Sean P. McPeak and speculated he was upset with him for having called police on him in a prior incident. He added McPeak previously told him over the phone he was going to run him over, court records show.

A 16-year-old female at the scene gave police a similar account, court records show.

About a half hour later, police responded to another residence in the South End, this one in the 100 block of 32nd Street. Benjamin C. Link told police he was walking his dog when a vehicle driven by McPeak pulled into McPeak's brother's driveway. Link heard McPeak yelling and swearing about him, then put his vehicle in reverse and drove at him, he told police.

Link had to jump out of the way to avoid being hit, he told police.

Link told police that the previous June, he caught McPeak breaking into his house.

Police soon located McPeak, who denied any wrongdoing. He said the two alleged victims know each other and he theorized they made up their stories to get him in trouble, court records show.

An 18-year-old woman with McPeak said she was in the car with him and concurred with his version of events. She added that the first alleged victim attempted to goad McPeak into a fight, court records show.

Authorities issued a warrant for McPeak on April 4. He voluntarily appeared in Bay County District Court on April 13 for arraignment on two counts of assault with a dangerous weapon. The charge is punishable by up to four years in prison and a $2,000 fine.

McPeak was free on bond when the vehicular assaults allegedly occurred. On March 4, he pleaded guilty to one count of third-degree home invasion, a five-year felony, stemming from the June 24 break-in of Link's house.

In exchange for his plea, the prosecution agreed to dismiss a 20-year felony count of first-degree home invasion. The prosecution was also recommending McPeak be sentenced under the Holmes Youthful Trainee Act.

The act allows a judge to place a defendant between the ages of 17 and 24 in jail or on probation without a conviction. If the defendant successfully completes the terms of the judge's sentence, he or she avoids having a criminal record.

Link on June 24 called 911 and told officers he came home to see a red BMX bicycle in his yard and his house's back door open. He went inside and saw McPeak in his living room.

Link asked McPeak what he was doing there, and McPeak yelled to someone unseen that Link was home, according to court records. McPeak then punched Link in the face, and Link responded by grabbing his assailant's neck, he told police.

They fell to the floor and scuffled, but McPeak managed to get up and run outside. He tried jumping the fence's gate, but Link grabbed him and threw him to the ground, he told police. McPeak got up again and ran to the fence on another side of the yard, only to be yanked down by Link again, Link told police.

McPeak eventually got up yet again, finally jumped the fence and pedaled off on his bike, Link told police.

"He's lucky I didn't think about grabbing my shotgun when I came in," Link told police, according to their reports in court records. "I would have blown him in half."

Link told officers that McPeak's brother lives a few houses down and that he went there looking for McPeak, to no avail. He theorized McPeak was in his house to steal his medical marijuana crop. He added that he did not see another person in his house, court records show.

Police went to McPeak's brother's house. He told them McPeak wouldn't have stolen anything from Link, adding that Link came to his place waving a pipe and yelling for McPeak. Link went so far as to strike McPeak's brother's finger with the pipe, he alleged to police.

Police spoke with Link again, and he denied hitting McPeak's brother with a pipe, saying they only exchanged words. He also told them he had discovered a bottle of about 120 Vicodin pills was missing, court record show.

McPeak later called 911 to speak with police. He met with them and said he rode his bike to Link's house and walked into his house about a foot after finding its back door open. He said he was yelling for Link, thinking loud music might have kept Link from hearing him. The next thing he knew, Link came storming at him and grabbed him by his neck, McPeak told police.

"He had both of his hands around my neck," McPeak told officers. "I was scared and in self-defense I punched him in the face."

Circuit Judge Joseph K. Sheeran is to sentence McPeak on the home invasion charge at 8:30 a.m. on Monday, April 25. McPeak is to appear before District Judge Timothy J. Kelly for a preliminary examination on the new assault counts at 3:30 p.m. on Wednesday, April 27.