Damages awarded to family of Utica man killed in 2007 fight

More than eight years after a Utica man was punched and killed in a bar fight, his family has been awarded over a million dollars in a lawsuit.

A La Salle County Circuit Court jury has awarded the family of Andrew Sibley $1.5 million in damages. The man who punched Sibley, Bryan Tomaseski is on the hook for 70 percent of the money with Two Fools Bar in La Salle ordered to pay the remaining 30 percent.

Sibley and Tomaseski were part of a scuffle inside the downtown La Salle bar in 2007 that eventually spilled outside. Tomaseski punched Sibley causing him to fall to the ground and hit his head. He died the next day.

Tomaseski pled guilty to involuntary manslaughter and was given three years in prison although he was let out well before the full three years.

Two Fools is now called 516 on 1st Street in downtown La Salle.