AUBURN – Some apartment residents in an area of Maine with a history of tension between Muslims and other local residents could face hate-crime charges after a Muslim couple claimed they were subjected to racial taunts and threats.

Kenneth Post, a Muslim convert, and his Yemeni wife, Raihanah Alsameai, said other residents in their building began intimidating them after they moved in earlier this month. Post said his wife is afraid of dogs and that a neighbor’s pit bull lunged at her and chased her. He said the situation grew worse when neighbors shouted, “What’s your religion?” and “Are you a Taliban?”

Police escorted the couple from the building and checked them into a hotel while also serving protection orders on three of the tenants. A property management company is also moving to evict four residents, the Sun-Journal reported Wednesday.

While no charges were filed, police passed on their reports about the incidents to the state Attorney General’s Office for a review to determine whether hate-crime charges should be filed, said Auburn Police Chief Phil Crowell.

Other neighbors blamed Post and his wife for the disturbance because they pulled out aluminum baseball bats. Post said the bats were purchased to defend against the dogs.

The dog’s owner, Terry Wayne Chesnel, said the dog is not dangerous and only wanted to play.

The incident is the latest involving local residents and Muslims in Auburn and the nearby city of Lewiston.

Last year, a man rolled a pig’s head into a Lewiston mosque used by Somalis while prayers were going on. And in Auburn earlier this year, a middle-school pupil threw a piece of leftover Easter ham on a table occupied by Somali Muslims.