An official of Yokohama, Japan was charged with professional negligence when an earth mover was knocked off the back of a truck by a post at a tunnel entrance and killed a pedestrian walking near by.

The post had been installed at an angle, causing it to be hit by loads on the back of trucks coming into the tunnel. People had been complaining about the problem post, but city officials did nothing.

Police sent documents to prosecutors on the official in charge of roads who had talked with local residents, on suspicion of professional negligence resulting in death after he failed to authorize having the post repaired.

When a truck was entering the tunnel in Yokohama’s Totsuka-ku on Nov. 30 last year, a 1.5-ton excavator on the vehicle hit the post and was knocked off. The excavator hit and killed a 65-year-old man who was walking nearby.

The official who was charged claimed that responsibility for the accident should lie with the driver, saying, “The accident occurred because the driver of the truck didn’t look carefully. I did not feel that fixing the post deserved high priority.”

The post was fixed following the fatal accident.