A man who was bitten by an Old Saybrook police canine after a car crash four years ago has reached a $250,000 settlement to resolve his legal claims against the town and two officers, records show.

Edward Riccio, a local business owner, was walking along the shoulder of Interstate 95 on Nov. 1, 2019, when he encountered Tyler Schulz, a former K-9 officer with the town. Riccio had just crashed his truck on the highway, and Schulz was an officer responding to the scene.

In the ensuing encounter, Riccio refused Schulz's repeated orders to get on the ground, instead asking for the officer's help, a review of body camera footage found.

Riccio then turned around and began to walk away from Schulz, back along the side of the road, the footage shows. That's when Schulz commanded the canine to attack Riccio, according to the footage, in which Riccio can be heard yelling in pain.

The dog left Riccio with an injury to his left leg, according to the resulting use of force report.

Riccio sued Old Saybrook in 2021, contending Schulz engaged in an "unreasonable use of force"; the town denied wrongdoing in court filings.

That lawsuit was resolved in June, according to a settlement agreement obtained from Old Saybrook through a Freedom of Information Request.

The agreement shows Riccio received $249,500 to settle his claims. The Connecticut Interlocal Risk Management Association, Old Saybrook's insurance company, was responsible for paying the bill.

As part of the agreement, the defendants in the case denied "any and all liability."

"As you know, these cases are always difficult to parse," First Selectman Carl Fortuna said of the resolution in an email. "We are happy to have this concluded and behind us."

Riccio's lawsuit also had alleged Schulz "beat (Riccio) with his fists" and that Justin Hanna, an officer who arrived on scene after Schulz, joined in the beating. The video footage does not show the alleged beating.

Hanna, who was named as a defendant alongside Schulz and the town, declined comment Monday.

"I don't really have a comment on it. I wasn't very involved in the situation, frankly," he said. Hanna no longer works for the Old Saybrook Police Department but serves as an officer in a different Connecticut town.

Katherine Rule, an attorney representing Schulz, did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment Monday.

The lawsuit alleged Riccio "required three eye surgeries to repair a detached retina in his left eye" as a result of the encounter.

Police reports and legal filings indicate responding officers may have believed Riccio was intoxicated and had "fled" from the scene of the crash after talking with paramedics. Riccio's attorney has denied Riccio was intoxicated and called the allegation that he fled the scene a "total misrepresentation" of what occurred.

In a department report, Schulz defended his use of force against Riccio, writing that he believed Riccio posed a threat to himself and to oncoming traffic when he walked away from the officer.

Schulz's supervisors deemed the use of force justified, and Schulz does not appear to have been disciplined in connection with the encounter.

However, the officer was sued once before over the use of his police canine. In that case, which was settled for $145,000, a woman alleged she was bitten by Schulz's police dog while she was pinned to the ground.

Schulz left Old Saybrook last year after signing a separation agreement as he faced allegations of misconduct unrelated to the lawsuits. In a letter to the police commission, Chief of Police Michael Spera described how an internal investigation found evidence Schulz had sex while on duty, was "untruthful under oath" when questioned and tampered with his vehicle GPS to conceal his whereabouts.

Riccio's lawyers expressed satisfaction with the outcome of their lawsuit.

"I think that under the circumstances, everything taken into account, it was a fair resolution in the case," said A. Paul Spinella, an attorney representing Riccio. "Of course there are damages here that money can't compensate for, such as emotional distress, but we feel that it was, you know, it was a fair resolution."

Spera did not return an email request for comment Monday.