For months, the Springfield Police Department has maintained its position on the videotaped clash between a desk officer and a Springfield man in the lobby of police headquarters: the officer, Jefferson Petrie, did nothing wrong.

In February, MassLive published security video of the altercation that contradicted parts of Petrie’s report on the incident and showed him grabbing 48-year-old Jerry Bellamy by the neck, pushing him out the door and arresting him.

Experts interviewed by MassLive said Petrie’s actions as seen on video escalated the encounter into physical violence, and said the footage did not support his account of events. But the case had already been properly handled, police officials said, with a hearing before the city’s Community Police Hearing Board -- who had cleared Petrie of wrongdoing.

“I don’t have a problem with the lobby video at all," Springfield Police Commissioner Cheryl Clapprood said in a March interview. “I watched it close enough to see the subject who was outside the lobby throw a punch at the officer. I thought at the time we wouldn’t have an issue with it and I still am behind the officer in the lobby video. That man came in and he was the aggressor in the disturbance."

Now Petrie is facing a criminal charge.

The veteran officer was arraigned on May 24 on a count of assault and battery, after a Springfield District Court clerk-magistrate found probable cause to approve Bellamy’s criminal complaint against him.

In his decision following an April 9 show cause hearing, Assistant Clerk-Magistrate Kenneth Chaffee found that Petrie had violated the department’s rules on the use of force.

“Petrie lacked any measurable effort to attempt communication to defuse Bellamy’s displeasure with the Springfield Police Department," Chaffee wrote in his decision. "Rather than to attempt to de-escalate the situation through communication, Petrie resorted to physical force to stifle Bellamy’s use of profanity. Petrie’s use of physical force escalated the situation.”

Clapprood stood by Petrie’s actions in a Monday statement to MassLive.

“Officer Petrie was reacting to an aggressive, combative individual who was complaining about receiving a ticket for parking in a fire lane and falsely accused the police department of stealing hundreds of dollars from him. Two civilian witnesses, both inside and outside, were interviewed by investigators and confirmed Officer Petrie’s testimony,” Clapprood said. “The two witnesses were not brought forward at the show cause hearing. From viewing the video I also saw the individual throw a punch at Officer Petrie outside, which is an arrestable offense. I also saw on video the individual square up to fight the Officer inside, which justifies Officer Petrie putting his hands on the individual. Officer Petrie has been cleared by the CPHB and I do not plan any further action from the department.”

Bellamy, Petrie and Officers Colin Cochrane, Ruben Borrero and Thomas Sheehan were listed as witnesses at the show cause hearing.

Chaffee, while noting that Bellamy’s conduct was not the focus of the hearing, also wrote that Bellamy could have been charged with assault and battery on a police officer himself for his response to Petrie’s actions. Chaffee wrote that the video showed Bellamy “thrust his right forearm into Petrie’s shoulder/neck/chin area” as he was being pushed out the door, after Petrie had grabbed and then released his throat.

The Hampden District Attorney’s Office also sought a count of filing a false report against Petrie, but the clerk did not approve that charge, a source familiar with the case told MassLive.

Petrie remains on active duty. Charles Dolan, his attorney, declined to comment.

The incident took place on June 29, 2017, when Bellamy walked into police headquarters at 130 Pearl Street to complain about a parking ticket he had clutched in his left hand.

Sitting at the desk, behind a pane of security glass, was Petrie. Both Bellamy and Petrie told investigators that Bellamy demanded that a supervisor hear his complaint and swore at Petrie, saying he was being targeted by police.

According to Petrie’s police report, Bellamy threw the ticket through the slot in the window, prompting the officer to retrieve the ticket and come out from behind his desk into the lobby. Bellamy then allegedly became physically aggressive, closing in on Petrie before the officer grabbed him by the “face area” and walked him toward the door, Petrie wrote.

“Mr. Bellamy then tensed up, clenched his fists and stepped toward me. I pushed him away and he returned toward me again. He pushed at me with his hands and swung his fists at me,” Petrie wrote in his report, saying that action prompted him and several off-duty officers to pursue Bellamy out of the lobby, tackle him to the ground and arrest him.

But the video contradicts several elements of Petrie’s story. The ticket that the officer claimed was thrown through the window, justifying his initial approach of Bellamy, can be seen still in Bellamy’s hand as he is pushed out the door. Bellamy never takes any steps toward Petrie during the encounter, instead either standing his ground or backpedaling. And Petrie grabbed Bellamy by the throat, not by the “face area,” Chaffee wrote in his decision.

“Petrie’s police report inaccurately stated Bellamy ‘threw a parking ticket through the pass-through in the window.’ Rather, the videos support Bellamy’s assertion that he did not throw the ticket at Petrie,” Chaffee wrote. “The parking ticket was in Bellamy’s left hand when he arrived at the police station and remained in his left hand after Petrie initiated physical force.”

Chaffee’s approval was needed for the charge to be filed because the allegation was made through an application for a criminal complaint, not a grand jury indictment or an arrest by a law enforcement officer. Chaffee’s decision was issued following a show-cause hearing -- a confidential proceeding in which a clerk-magistrate either finds probable cause for a complaint to be issued or dismisses it before it reaches open court.

His decision’s assessment is similar to analysis of the video that Westfield State criminal justice associate professor and former NYPD sergeant Brian Rizzo provided to MassLive in February.

“Officer Petrie probably could have achieved his intention of removing Mr. Bellamy from the lobby without resorting to placing his hands around Mr. Bellamy’s throat,” Rizzo wrote in an email. “Taking Mr. Bellamy by the arm and escorting him out may have been sufficient. This appears to be an entirely unwarranted, inappropriate, and unnecessary action as Mr. Bellamy does not appear to be taking any offensive action toward Officer Petrie.”

Bellamy also alleged in a civilian complaint that he had lost hundreds of dollars he was holding in his hand at the time of the encounter, and that officers punched him after taking him to the ground. MassLive’s February review of the footage did not substantiate those allegations.

Bellamy was initially charged with assault and battery on a police officer and resisting arrest, but those charges were dropped after the Office of Hampden District Attorney Anthony Gulluni reviewed footage of the counter. Gulluni’s office announced a further criminal review of Petrie’s actions in February, after the publication of MassLive’s story on the incident.