The family of a man killed by a police dog in Montgomery has settled part of their federal lawsuit, reaching a “confidential” agreement with the K-9 handler who unleashed the dog.

Walter Pettaway, a 51-year-old Black man, bled to death after a police dog named Niko bit his thigh and tore his femoral artery in 2018.

His family sued in 2019, accusing Officer Nicholas Barber of excessive force and bringing additional claims against the city of Montgomery and Chief Ernest Finley, who has since left the department.

In court records last month, attorneys for Barber said they had reached a settlement on the excessive force claim against the former K-9 handler. Barber no longer works for the Montgomery city police.

“…the parties have reached a confidential mutually agreeable resolution of the claim pending before this Court,” the records state.

Griffin Sikes, an attorney for the Pettaway family, said he could not reveal any details of the settlement because of the confidentiality agreement.

But, Sikes said, the settlement is not the end of the lawsuit. The Pettaway family is appealing their case against Montgomery, alleging that the city is liable because it had a policy prohibiting the officers from rendering first aid that could have saved Pettaway’s life while he was bleeding out on the sidewalk.

“The city of Montgomery failed to provide prompt and adequate medical care to someone their cop injured — not because of failure of the individual cop but because of the city’s policy,” Sikes told AL.com.

Attorneys for Barber and the city did not respond to requests for comment.

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In July of 2018, Montgomery police said they got a call about a possible burglary and found Pettaway sleeping in an otherwise unoccupied house. Pettaway’s family said he had been helping fix up the small home and sometimes slept there.

There is body camera footage of what happened, but the city and the federal court have denied requests to to release it to the public. Attorneys for the city at one point argued in court records that the release of the video could cause public unrest.

It took two years for the family’s lawyers to see the video. After obtaining copies, the lawyers described the footage in a court filing, saying the bite lasted nearly two minutes and the handler struggled to get the dog to let go of Pettaway.

Barber, the K-9 handler, testified in a deposition that he had to choke the dog until it could not breathe and was nearly unconscious in order to get Niko to release Pettaway’s groin.

Pettaway bled as police dragged him out of the house and onto the sidewalk to wait 14 minutes for an ambulance, according to the filing. He died at the hospital.

About five minutes after the bite ended, the filing says, another officer outside asked Barber, “Did ya’ get a bite?” Barber responded, “Sure did, heh, heh (chuckling).” The officer asked: “Are you serious?” Barber replied. “F**k yeah.”

In their lawsuit, the Pettaway family argues that the police officers could have tried to slow or stop the bleeding by applying pressure to his wounds or using a tourniquet — noting that Boy Scouts learn such life-saving measures.

Instead, because of the city’s policy prohibiting police from providing emergency medical care, the officers stood over Pettaway as they waited for an ambulance, Sikes said.

U.S. District Judge Emily C. Marks, who also declined to make the video public, dismissed the family’s claim against the city. But Sikes says they will appeal.

“We think it’s important because it’s a public entity that has failed the public,” Sikes said. “The whole mission of the Montgomery police department is to protect its citizens. The duty of the police isn’t just protecting crime victims, it’s also people they take into custody. They have to protect them.”