Priest charged with in cleric quarrel gets pretrial program

MORRISTOWN, N.J. (AP) -- A New Jersey Catholic priest accused of threatening to kill a fellow cleric with a crucifix-adorned staff has been admitted to a pretrial intervention program.

The Rev. Frank Hreno can have the charges against him dismissed if he successfully completes the program.

Hreno's lawyer tells the Daily Record of Parsippany (http://dailyre.co/140Smek ) a judge in Morris County admitted Hreno to a one-year program of probation and counseling.

The 51-year-old was charged in April. Police say he scuffled with 37-year-old Rev. Emeka Okwuosa at the Vocationist Fathers Retreat and Conference Center in Florham Park over a car Hreno had leased.

Okwuosa said Hreno stabbed him in the arm with the metal staff, causing a wound that required 29 stitches. Hreno said Okwuosa hurt his harm smashing it against a glass door.

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Information from: Daily Record (Parsippany, N.J.), http://www.dailyrecord.com