The family of the man injured outside of Amigos Nightclub and Lounge is looking for help with medical expenses.
The man was injured in the early morning hours of February 25, and flown to Saskatoon via air ambulance. According to the owner of the club, Majid Yasin, a man had to be ejected from the club around 1 a.m., after getting in an argument, breaking a bottle, and injuring his hand. After the injury was wrapped, the man was removed from Amigos.
The following day, police forensics and officers were also still on-scene at the club by late afternoon, examining the parking lot and vehicles parked north of the club entrance.
While the investigation is continuing, police have indicated that the man was injured during a fight outside the club, with three individuals involved. Police know the identities of all three people involved in the fight, and have spoken with them. The investigation is ongoing.
The injured man’s identity has now been revealed as 36 year old Brian Kosteriva.
His long-term partner, Karah Cromartie, told 106.1 The Goat someone tried to fight Kosteriva in the bar, breaking a bottle and getting kicked out in the process. Cromartie also said that after Kosteriva exited the bar, the same person attacked him, leaving him injured on the ground.
After being flown to Saskatoon, Kostariva was kept sedated for four days. He has since returned to the Lloydminster hospital, and is in recovery.
“He’s awake now, but he’s still pretty confused, they just brought him back to Lloydminster Hospital yesterday,” said Cromartie.
“He doesn’t remember much of anything. He remembers the past, but he keeps asking the same questions over and over.”
Cromartie says Kosteriva had been out that night celebrating the birth of his latest child, as well as the end to a curfew from a drunk-driving conviction.
“It was celebrate a year of being on curfew, and not breaching, and having the baby, to go out for some wings at Tropical Inn and then ended up at Amigos,” said Cromartie.
“It’s not like anybody hated him, or anything.”
Cromartie has set up a GoFundMe page seeking $5000 to help pay for medical transport costs, as well as general expenses from having Kosteriva in recovery and not working. A total of $130 has been donated in the last four days. A link to the page can be found here: https://www.gofundme.com/medical-bills-for-brian-kosteriva
The online fundraising effort will also be contributed to by Amigos. The club plans to hold a charity pizza sale on March 17 and 18, with the proceeds of the sale donated towards the family of Kosteriva.
“I understand he has a family, and he’s a good fella, we took it upon ourselves to try to raise a little money for him,” said Yasin.
“At the end of the day, if we don’t raise enough, I’ll take it upon myself to throw in some extra.”
Yasin also indicated he wouldn’t be hiring more security at the club in the wake of the assault, after initially strengthening security earlier in 2017 due to an incident involving a firearm.
“I think we’re a great, safe place,” said Yasin.
“We always were. It’s unfortunate that a couple of bad incidents (happen) I hope it doesn’t deter people from thinking that we are a safe place.”
Yasin also said the club will keep on top of fights as best they can in the future.
“It’s a bar, things happen,” said Yasin.
“(People) get drunk, they get a little belligerent. If you look at our records, fights are minimal. We’re going to keep on top of it as best we can. In light of what happened there, we’d like to help the family. If anything happens in the future, we’ll adjust from there. I’m praying that’s enough stuff to happen for a while.”