RALEIGH — A.P. Carlton Jr., former president of the American Bar Association and a Raleigh lawyer, agreed today to attend anger management classes as part of a deal to have criminal charges stemming from a parking dispute go away.

Carlton consented to a deferred agreement, meaning that the assault on a female charge will be dropped if he completes the anger management course by August, said Toby Lathan, a Wake County assistant district attorney.

The Jan. 11 dispute Carlton got into never involved physical contact.

He and the woman he's accused of assaulting, Adrienne Charleston, a Wake child enforcement case worker, encountered each other while parking at the same downtown Raleigh intersection one morning.

Charleston indicated that Carlton was upset that she hadn’t pulled up to take the space in front of her. She said he bumped her car and began yelling, screaming and coming after her, causing her to fear for her safety.

Carlton said he was never closer than 12 to 15 feet from her. Previously, he said he regretted the disagreement but denied threatening her. A Raleigh police officer cited him after Carlton drove away.

Carlton is a Raleigh lawyer with Allen and Pinnix. He served as the national bar president in 2002.