An undercover New York Police Department detective accused of taking part in a motorcyclists-versus-SUV melee has been acquitted of the most serious charges but convicted of lesser crimes.

Detective Wojciech Braszczok and his co-defendant, Robert Sims, said they believed the SUV driver had just struck a biker and fled during the September 2013 rally. A judge on Tuesday found them not guilty of gang assault and first-degree assault but guilty of second-degree assault, coercion, riot and criminal mischief.

Eleven men were indicted. Driver Alexian Lien ran over a motorcyclist, paralyzing him, before he was pulled from his SUV and beaten.

Braszczok says he didn’t have a gun or a badge and didn’t think anyone would believe he was an officer. He says he didn’t intend to harm the driver.

(AP)