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A judge on Monday dismissed an assault charge against a former Virginia Beach police officer who punched and knocked out a mental health patient after the man spat at him.

Circuit Judge James C. Lewis granted the defense’s request to dismiss the misdemeanor assault and battery charge against former officer Jemarr Mosley after hearing testimony from several witnesses and watching multiple videos of the incident, which occurred earlier this year at Sentara Virginia Beach General Hospital.

“What I saw in that video was very disturbing,” Lewis said before announcing his decision. “Let there be no mistake: I do not condone anything I saw in that video.”

But the judge also said he didn’t believe the officer’s actions “rose to the level” of a Class 1 misdemeanor. Such misdemeanors are punishable by up to a year in jail and a $2,500 fine.

The incident occurred Feb. 9 in a dayroom at the hospital.

Among the witnesses called to testify were three officers and another patient who were in the dayroom. The man struck by Mosley, identified as William Francis Young Jr., didn’t appear. The videos entered into evidence included body camera footage recorded by Mosley and two of the other officers, as well as footage captured by a hospital surveillance camera. None of the videos have been made public yet.

Mosley, 25, testified in his own defense. He didn’t deny punching the patient in the face three times, but claimed he did it in self-defense. He also said he knew the patient had a history of spitting at people.

According to testimony from the witnesses, the mental health patient was watching television when he got up and angrily approached an officer watching a video on his cellphone, and complained the video was too loud.

Mosley testified he stood up and asked the patient, “What’s up bro?” in an effort to de-escalate the situation. The patient then spat toward Mosley’s face, but didn’t hit him.

Mosley said he ran toward the patient, punched him in the face, and fell on top of him as the patient fell to the floor. He said the patient grabbed his left forearm as they were on the ground, and he struck him two more times in the face before the other officers pulled him off and out of the room. The man was briefly knocked unconscious, the other officers testified.

Afterward, Mosley angrily paced in the hallway, cursing and saying things like, “I told you I’d knock you out cold,” one of the officers testified. Mosley agreed to be interviewed by investigators afterward and was charged a few weeks later. He resigned from the police department after that.

Defense attorney Kristin Paulding argued that if the incident had happened at a bar, no one would have been charged. Paulding also said that when the patient grabbed Mosley’s forearm, he felt threatened and that’s why he continued to strike him.

But Chief Deputy Commonwealth’s Attorney Scott Lang said Mosley didn’t say anything about being grabbed by the arm when he was first questioned. Lang also argued Mosley went too far when he continued to punch the man on the ground.