"Ferro, a gym teacher at North Queens Community HS, was initially told to lay off the booze by bouncers at the popular resort bar because he seemed too drunk, Seaside Heights Det. Steve Korman told The Post.

Ferro managed to stay inside the bar and eventually swiped booze belonging to Snooki and her entourage that had been placed on the bar top.

"That started a verbal altercation after which he struck her in the face," said Korman. "She sustained an injury to the inside of her mouth due to the punch."

In fact, the video shows Ferro suddenly walloping Snooki in the jaw — sending the 21-year-old beauty’s head reeling backward.

"Maybe he had a little too much to drink, but hitting a woman is a bit much," said Ginny Tanawots, a neighbor of the Ferro family "There’s got to be a different way around it — I don’t care what she did."

Ferro was arrested on charges of assault and disorderly conduct shortly after 2 a.m. on Aug. 19

Education Dept. officials said they hadn’t been informed about his arrest earlier because it occurred out of state."