A crane operator who survived a deadly crane collapse in downtown Bellevue in 2006 was awarded $1.45 million in damages by a King County jury Thursday.

Jurors ruled in favor of Warren Yeakey, who filed suit against Seattle-based general contractor Lease Crutcher Lewis and Seattle engineering firm Magnusson Klemencic Associates after the collapse of a crane he was working on left him too injured to work.

The incident occurred in November of 2006 when Yeakey was operating a 210-foot crane used to build Tower 333 in Bellevue. The equipment faltered and crashed into Plaza 305 and Pinnacle BellCentre. One man was killed in the incident when the crane fell on his apartment.

A subsequent investigation cited faulty design of the crane’s base as the primary case of the accident.

Following an investigation, the state fined Lease Crutcher Lewis and MKA for improper design and construction of the crane. The citation against MKA was later dismissed on appeal.

Yeakey originally sought more than $12 million in damages.