Former Jeannette star, NFL player Terrell Pryor waives hearing, opts for trial on assault charge

Former NFL player and Jeannette football star Terrelle Pryor waived his right to a preliminary hearing Tuesday and will stand trial on charges that he struck a woman in a Penn Township home they shared early Oct. 6.

Neither Pryor, 32, nor his attorney, Stephen Colafella of Beaver, commented on the legal formality as they departed District Judge Helen Kistler’s office together.

“We’ll have no comment at this time,” Colafella said as Pryor and he got into his car after a brief court appearance.

Kistler ordered Pryor to appear at 8:30 a.m. Jan. 12 before Common Pleas Court Judge Scott Mears for arraignment on charges of criminal mischief, harassment and simple assault filed by township police.

Pryor will remain free on $100,000 unsecured bond with a stipulation that he have no contact with the woman.

Police said they responded to a township home shortly after 1 a.m. Oct. 6 for a report of a domestic dispute that became physical, according to a criminal complaint.

The woman told police the incident began after she and Pryor returned from a bar in Oakmont. At the time, Pryor went into the house and the woman went to a bar in Murrysville, officials said.

While at the Murrysville bar, Pryor began calling and texting the woman, officials said. Eventually, the two began to argue via text message. The woman stopped responding to Pryor, who left 50 missed calls and 30 unanswered text messages on her phone, the complaint said.

The woman eventually returned to the home and went to the back deck. She told police she did not enter “out of fear of Pryor,” the complaint reads.

According to the complaint, Pryor began shoving the woman. The woman told officers he hit her in the head and face with an open hand, causing her eye to become bruised and inflamed, officials said.

As the woman was running to the front of the home, Pryor threw a deck chair at her, the complaint reads. The woman got into her vehicle, and, as she was driving away, Pryor threw pumpkins at the windshield of her Mercedes Benz, causing indents and webbing on the glass, officials said.

According to the complaint, Pryor denied hitting the woman but admitted to throwing pumpkins at her car, leading to harassment and criminal mischief charges.

Colafella also represented Pryor in a 2019 domestic incident in which Pryor was charged by Pittsburgh police. He was ordered to serve probation in that case after pleading guilty to a summary count of harassment.