Police say they found 32 firearms, many of them privately made “ghost guns,” at the residence of a convicted felon and long-time problem resident of Village Green Drive in North Andover after neighbors say he was blowing off explosives in the area.

The feds have charged Daniel Medina, 64, who is barred from owning guns and explosive material due to a 2002 state conviction for assault and battery, of illegally possessing a machine gun, explosives, guns and ammunition. Court documents show a history of police responses to his home for neighbor disputes and domestic disturbances.

The top charge — being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition — could land him in prison for up to 15 years. The other charges carry maximum sentences of 10 years in prison.

Medina is currently in state custody and an arraignment date on the federal charges has not yet been scheduled, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office.

The inciting crime

The North Andover Police Department dispatched officers to the area of Jefferson Street on July 1 after a caller said he heard an explosion in the area and then saw a man running toward the back of the homes on the street.

The caller’s hearing appeared to be true, as police said they saw a white Subaru Outback in the area with “a crater in the rear passenger door” surrounded by small dents as well as similar damage to a gray Mercedes beside it, according to the criminal complaint filed in the federal case.

A second witness came up to the officers and said that he saw a neighbor, who the witness identified as Medina, running from the vehicles toward his house. The claim was bolstered by a piece of damaged mail allegedly found at the bomb scene that was addressed to Medina.

The weapons cache

The officers called in the State Police bomb squad who told them evidence at the scene were common ingredients in homemade bombs, according to the complaint, and that the ball bearings or shrapnel that caused the little dents in the cars “are associated with a homemade explosive device and not commercial fireworks.”

The cops got a search warrant to Medina’s house and say that they found an enormous trove of weaponry and accessories. Those include 23 “privately manufactured firearms,” commonly called “ghost guns,” that are hard for law enforcement to track: a .50 caliber rifle with scope as well as seven more ghost rifles and 15 ghost pistols.

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Then there was a collection of manufacturer guns: rifles from MAADI, Ruger, Winchester and Traditions; shotguns from Harrington and Richardson, Acero and Winchester; and some “antique” guns — a Marlin 1893 rifle and Ellipietta revolver.

Law enforcement said that at least one of the pistols and two of the ghost rifles had fully automatic capability and, “as a result, these rifles are considered machineguns under federal law and are illegal to possess,” ATF Special Agent Vanessa Flick wrote in her affidavit supporting the charges.

He also allegedly had more than 9,000 rounds of the assorted calibers and more than 75 magazines to load the ammo into, as well as assorted gun parts and books on building guns, explosives and drugs. Then there were BBs and other shrapnel items as well as powders that the State Police Crime Lab said tested positive for explosive materials.

A variety of powders investigators claim are used in explosives that were allegedly found at the North Andover home of Daniel Medina. (Courtesy / U.S. District Court