Frustration is not an unfamiliar feeling for anyone who’s gone to the DMV, but one San Francisco man’s resilience and one clerk’s impatience resulted in a brawl at the department’s office with each using desk supplies as weapons.

San Francisco Public Defender Jeff Adachi announced Wednesday that Jeremiah Lowery, 29, was acquitted of felony charges in an Aug. 16 fight at the Department of Motor Vehicles branch on Fell Street. Although Lowery was found not guilty of felony counts of assault against two employees —who he swung a computer monitor at — he was convicted of misdemeanor assault.

“This was a scuffle between frustrated people that did not result in any serious injuries,” Adachi said in a statement. “Fortunately, Mr. Lowery had a public defender who advocated for him and a jury who examined the evidence and cut the case down to size."

The day of the incident marked Lowery’s fifth attempt at getting a California photo identification card. When he reached the counter at the end of the day, he had a war of words with a clerk who told him to “f— off,” officials said he told police.

Lowery, who needed the ID to nail down housing and a job, refused to move from the window until he received what he came for. He had already paid for an identification card, but the agency sent him a letter months before the incident saying the card would not be issued because it was missing information.

With paperwork in hand, Lowery told police the clerk responded to his small protest by wielding an electric stapler at him.

Lowery quickly picked up the clerk’s monitor as a shield, and started swinging to fend off the original clerk and another who had joined the melee.

Next, a security guard entered the mix and grabbed Lowery, who “reflexively” knocked the guard to the ground with a punch.

That’s when a customers began to intervene, jumping on Lowery and choking him. Minutes later, he was arrested.

Lowery had been in jail since August, but was released around two weeks ago, said Tamara Barak Aparton, a spokeswoman in the public defender’s office. He will be required to complete 12 anger management classes. Lowery initially faced five years in prison, she said.

A jury found he was reacting to a display of force by the clerks and “did not use force likely to cause great bodily injury,” said Lowery’s attorney, Deputy Public Defender Sandy Feinland.

“Mr. Lowery just went to the DMV to get his paperwork straightened out. He was not looking for trouble. He certainly didn’t expect employees to fly off the handle and force him to defend himself,” Feinland said in a statement.

It is not known if Lowery ever received the ID card.

Jenna Lyons is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: jlyons@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @JennaJourno