Operator of crane involved in fatal accident sues the P-I

An operator involved in a deadly Bellevue crane collapse has sued the Seattle P-I, saying the paper defamed him by printing details of his criminal history.

Warren Yeakey, the 36-year- old operator who was injured in the November 2006 collapse, filed the defamation suit in Pierce County Superior Court earlier this month. In court documents, Yeakey says the paper wrongly intimated that his arrests and convictions somehow contributed to the collapse.

"He felt like he was vilified falsely," said Matt Renda, a Tacoma attorney representing Yeakey. The story, Renda added, "created an incorrect or false implication that operator error ... was a contributing factor to the downing of the crane and the death of (Matthew) Ammond," a Microsoft Corp. patent lawyer who was killed in the collapse.

P-I Managing Editor David McCumber declined to comment because the matter is being litigated. In addition to the P-I, the suit names the paper's owner, The Hearst Corp., and two reporters involved in the paper's coverage of the episode.

Renda said a subsequent investigation showed that Yeakey did not cause the collapse.

The state Department of Labor and Industries determined that a design flaw in the crane's base caused the collapse. A drug test taken the day after the collapse showed no evidence that Yeakey was using drugs during the collapse.

Yeakey has requested monetary damages to be determined at trial.

Renda said no hearings have been scheduled.