BLACK RIVER FALLS, Wis. — A misunderstanding with an off-duty cop over a man's elaborate attempt to catch homecoming pranksters almost cost him his life, a prosecutor told jurors Monday during opening statements in Matthew Hoskins' attempted murder trial.

Hoskins, the 34-year-old police chief of the village of Norwalk, is accused of pointing a loaded handgun at John Ellingson and pulling the trigger after the two scuffled.

The gun "dry-fired," or failed to shoot a bullet, because it jammed when Ellingson tried to wrestle it out of Hoskins' hands, state Assistant Attorney General Barbara Oswald said.

"But for the fact that this gun dry-fired, it's almost certain that John would not be with us today," she said.

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In his opening statement, defense attorney John Matousek denied that the "dry-fire" occurred and blamed the Sept. 27, 2003, altercation on what he portrayed as Ellingson's irresponsible behavior.

Moreover, Ellingson admitted on the stand that he only heard — but did not see — Hoskins pull the trigger.

If convicted of attempted murder and two counts of reckless endangerment with a weapon, Hoskins faces up to 95 years in prison. He is free on a personal recognizance bond.

The fight between the two men started after Hoskins mistook Ellingson's attempts to catch teenagers on their way to toilet-paper his house for a crime in progress.

Oswald told jurors that the Ellingson family, with twins who were both juniors in high school, made sport of trying to catch the pranksters who had attempted to toilet-paper their house on about 30 occasions.

"The Ellingson family took great fun," the prosecutor said. "They had made a game in trying to outwit these kids."

Ellingson said he rigged his yard with trip-wires attached to pipes filled with gunpowder in order to scare off pranksters. The wires triggered a small blast when activated that was similar to gunfire, Ellingson admitted.

The blasts and ensuing mayhem of fleeing teenagers disturbed Hoskins, Matousek told jurors.

The defense attorney said Hoskins had just put his son to bed when he went outside to investigate the disturbance near his girlfriend's house. When he came to the front of Ellingson's house, Hoskins encountered the former reserve police officer dressed in a bow-hunting camouflage outfit and roaring like a bear at fleeing teenagers.

Ellingson recalled that the moment he saw Hoskins, he thought the off-duty police chief was a teenager with a fake gun.

But that impression quickly changed when Hoskins screamed at Ellingson and his daughter, Melissa, and told them to shut up and get on the ground.

When Ellingson said he didn't believe Hoskins' weapon — a .40 caliber semi-automatic Glock handgun — was real, Hoskins fired two warning shots into the air.

Hoskins then tried to subdue Melissa, who was screaming at him, by grabbing her around the head, Ellingson said.

"At that point, it occurred to me that this was a sexual predator and he was looking for a girl," Ellingson testified. "I honestly thought he was going to carry my daughter away."

He told jurors he hit Hoskins several times in the head and eventually grabbed his gun.

While the two were struggling with the weapon, it fired into the ground. Because there was no ricochet, Ellingson said he believed the weapon contained blanks, so he backed away from Hoskins and was no longer afraid.

"He turned and looked at me and he got a bead on me, and then I heard a click," Ellingson said.

Ellingson acknowledged that he didn't see Hoskins pull the trigger, but said that years of firearms training allowed him to identify the sound of a dry-fire.

"The first thing he said was 'I'm a cop,'" Ellingson testified. "I said, 'I'm a cop, too!'"

Ellingson said police eventually arrived and sorted out the situation.

When the responding officers told him that Hoskins was an off-duty police chief, he said he shook his hand, apologized and declined to press charges.

"I never thought I was a bad guy, and here I am attacking a cop," Ellingson said. "I felt bad."

The Jackson County Sheriff began an investigation that eventually led to Hoskins' arrest almost a year later.

Matousek told jurors that expert testimony will prove that the gun didn't dry-fire.

The trial is expected to last until Friday. Court TV Extra is streaming the trial live on the Web.