Wedding brawl suit nets $4 million

COUNTRYSIDE, Ill., July 6 (UPI) -- The family of a man killed in a brawl between two wedding parties has settled its suit against the Countryside, Ill., hotel where the fight occurred.

Michael Chambers' family claimed he was killed by a former high school wrestler who put him in a choke hold while he was trying to flee the brawl in 2000, The Chicago Tribune reported Friday.

They filed suit against the William Tell Inn, claiming the hotel served too much alcohol to the guests and failed to properly control the crowd. The hotel settled the suit for $1.5 million.

The suit also named participants in the brawl and security and law enforcement personnel the family claims should have prevented the death. The total settlements from the suit amount to $4.19 million.

"Michael Chambers should never have died," Robert Clifford, the family's attorney, said Thursday. "The blame game and finger-pointing (among defendants) was endless here ... But in the end, all of them agreed to accept a measure of accountability."

Clifford said final payments for the settlement were made last week.