SANDPOINT — A preliminary hearing is pending for an Oldtown man accused of threatening a woman with a hammer and disturbing the peace.

Dean Charles Smith was arrested on Wednesday after he allegedly threatened the woman during an altercation off Highway 41.

The alleged victim told Bonner County sheriff’s deputies that Smith grabbed a hammer during a dispute, lunged at her and raised the hammer as though he was going to strike her with it.

The woman said she and another man attempted to persuade Smith to leave the residence, but he pushed passed them, prompting the woman to discharge a canister of pepper spray at him, according to a probable cause affidavit.

Smith, 49, left the residence, but the alleged victim said he returned and attempted to force his way back into the home, prompting her to call the authorities. Smith was encountered leaving the residence and told a deputy that he had been argued with a man who was not identified as being at the scene and said he wanted “druggies out of his house,” the affidavit said.

Smith is subject to sentencing enhancements for using a deadly weapon during the commission of a crime and being a persistent violator due to prior convictions in Bonner County for felony drug possession in 1996 and a grand theft conviction that dates back to 1987.

A preliminary hearing in the case is set for March 14.

Keith Kinnaird can be reached by email at kkinnaird@bonnercountydailybee.com and follow him on Twitter @KeithDailyBee.