The Denver Civil Service Commission has ruled that police Officer Choice Johnson deserves a 30-day suspension for shoving a man attending his brother’s bachelor party in July 2014 at a LoDo bar.

In letter released Tuesday morning, the commission wrote that Johnson had violated the Denver Police Department’s use-of-force policy by using an Israeli martial arts technique on a man who showed no signs of aggression.

Johnson “simply attacked” Brandon Schreiber, the letter said.

Johnson, who has been a Denver police officer since 2003, originally was given a 30-day suspension, but a hearing officer overturned that punishment in August after Johnson appealed.

The Civil Service Commission disagreed with the hearing officer, Terry Tomsick, and the commission took her to task in its letter, occasionally using feisty language to make its point.

Since the shoving, Schreiber has filed a federal lawsuit against Johnson and the Denver Police Department.

Schreiber was attending his brother’s bachelor party July 26, 2014, when his brother, Matthew Schreiber, fell asleep at the 1Up Bar. Bouncers kicked Matthew Schreiber out of the bar, but once outside he tried to get readmitted.

Johnson, who was working security at the bar and wearing his Denver police uniform, handcuffed Matthew Schreiber and called for transportation to take him to the city’s detox unit.

But Brandon Schreiber protested Johnson’s decision and argued with the officer outside the bar. He wanted to take his brother home.

Video footage from outside the bar showed Brandon Schreiber standing with his hands at his side when Johnson stepped toward him, put his hands on the man’s shoulders and pushed him backward.

Tomsick, the hearing officer, had ruled that Johnson used an appropriate amount of force.

But the commission said Tomsick’s decision would have rewritten the Denver Police Department’s use-of-force policy if her ruling had stood.

Tomsick used case law that sets standards for use of force in deadly and nondeadly instances. But the police department is not limited by the case law, the commission said.

Instead, “The department is free to create a use of force policy that goes beyond the floor set by case law establishing constitutional violations,” the commission wrote in its letter.

The commission’s letter also criticized Tomsick for allowing the 1Up bouncer to testify as a “trained bouncer.”

“The hearing officer did not indicate what school of bouncing (he) graduated from, his class rank, or what the curriculum at the bouncing school entailed; causing us to question whether he was truly qualified, as a bouncer, to offer expert testimony in a police disciplinary matter,” a footnote in the letter said.

Another footnote in the letter poked at Tomsick for saying Johnson had executed perfectly a Krav Maga move.

“It does not matter that Officer Johnson might have employed his Krav Maga take-down of Brandon with sufficient alacrity and precision to qualify for a first ballot election to the Krav Maga Hall of Fame,” the footnote said.

Rather, Johnson never should have used force.

Schreiber’s lawsuit against Johnson cited 18 prior complaints of excessive force against the officer to establish a pattern with Johnson and the police department.

Johnson had never been disciplined for excessive force prior to the July 2014 incident but had been in trouble for failing to report use of force on more than one occasion, the lawsuit said.

Johnson is a patrolman in District 2, which covers Northeast Denver. He is restricted from working off-duty security assignments in bar settings, said Doug Schepman, a Denver police spokesman.

If Johnson chooses to appeal the latest decision, the case would move into the court system.