TROY – A state Supreme Court jury found Tuesday that an Albany man’s civil rights were not violated when he was bitten by a city police dog in 2013 and the handler acted properly in releasing the dog to search for a robbery suspect.

The jury’s decision in the $1.3 million civil rights lawsuit spared the city from having to pay money in an excessive force case.

“They found no constitutional violations and no negligence,” said Michael Ginsberg of Pattison, Sampson, Ginsberg & Griffin of Troy, who represented the city and Officer Justin Ashe, the dog's handler.

Thomas Relf of Albany filed the lawsuit in 2014, claiming he was the victim of “excessive and unreasonable force by the police officers and police dog.”

According to the lawsuit, Relf was visiting relatives at a home on Oakwood Terrace where he said he was bitten by the dog Dec. 28, 2013. Relf said he was confronted by Elza, a German shepherd, and Ashe. Frightened by the dog, Relf jumped on the hood of his car and Elza bit down on his left knee, according to court documents. Relf was 50 when he was bitten.

At the time, police were hunting for two men suspected in the gunpoint robbery of the S & J Mart Gas Station on Hoosick Street. The robbery, which occurred on the same day Relf was bitten, was part of a string of armed robberies police investigated at the time.

“We feel this was an inappropriate claim made against a good officer,” said Ginsberg, who was assisted by Rhiannon Spencer in the case.

The court papers say Ashe let Elza off the leash to search for the suspects. Out of Ashe’s sight, the dog came upon Relf and bit down on his knee to hold him until Ashe appeared to order the dog to release Relf.

The lawsuit attacked the Troy Police Department’s training methods, the way it conducts excessive force investigations, and claimed the city “tolerated a pattern and practice of unjustified, unreasonable and illegal use of force against African-American civilians” by police officers. Relf is African-American.

It was the third time that Elza had bitten a non-suspect during a search or pursuit, according to court documents. Elza was retired from the police department and later died from cancer.

State Supreme Court Justice Patrick McGrath has presided over case since it was filed. The jury received the case late Monday and deliberated for about two hours. When the jurors returned Tuesday, they spent another hour deliberating before reaching the verdict.

Relf had rejected an offer by the city to settle the case. He was represented by Mark G. Sokoloff of Hach & Rose of New York. Hach & Rose is the same firm that is suing the city in the wrongful death case of Edson Thevenin who was fatally shot by Det. Sgt. Randall French during an April 2016 traffic stop.