LINCOLN – Police unsuccessfully used pepper spray on a suspect who assaulted an officer as he tried to search a car the suspect was riding in Wednesday night, police said Friday.

Jacob Gordon, 18, of Lincoln was charged late Wednesday with assault, refusing to submit to arrest, obstructing government administration and possession of marijuana, police said.

A juvenile, 17, also was charged with possession of marijuana and referred to juvenile authorities in connection with the incident, police said.

Police found Gordon in the woods off Enfield Road with the help of state police Trooper Barry Meserve and Semper, his German shepherd tracking dog. Gordon made bail and was released from the Penobscot County Jail on Thursday, a jail official said Friday.

The incident began, Police Chief William Flagg said, when Officers Chad Chubbuck and Richard York pulled over a car that was being driven erratically near Transalpine Road at about 8 p.m. Wednesday.

The officers smelled what they thought was marijuana emanating from the vehicle, and after having Gordon and the juvenile, who was driving, get out of the car, began searching it.

The officers had found a firearm in the car when an officer began reaching for a pack of cigarettes he saw in it, Flagg said. That’s when Gordon tried to intervene, assaulted Chubbuck, and was pepper-sprayed by one of the officers, whom Flagg declined to name, before running off, police said.

The cigarette pack contained a small amount of marijuana, Flagg said.

The officers secured the juvenile and called for Meserve and Semper, who led them to Gordon. Gordon surrendered without incident, Flagg said.

Gordon is due in Superior Court in Bangor on Jan. 20, police said.

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