Concrete chunk falls off bridge and smashes a car

One look at Kyle Jones' 2003 Ford Focus, and you'd think the person driving it didn't survive the collision.

The car's windshield is severely cracked, the roof is caved in and bits of glass and concrete fill the interior.

But amazingly, Kyle himself was behind the wheel and has -- literally -- only a scratch to prove it.

At about 8 a.m. Friday, Kyle was driving southbound on Interstate 35E under the 494 overpass when something crashed into his car.

"More or less I thought, 'did a car just fall, did somebody just fall, did a tire just fly off? What just happened?' I had no idea," he said Friday afternoon.

But Kyle later surmised what he believes was the case: that a chunk of concrete from the 494 overpass crashed into his car.

At this point, investigators with the Minnesota State Patrol and Minnesota Department of Transportation continue to look into what happened. Investigators believe the concrete may have come from the bridge.

"If in fact it was this small piece of concrete that was missing from the bridge, it would have gotten destroyed falling off the bridge and striking the car," said Sgt. Don Marose with the Minnesota State Patrol.

But investigators haven't yet ruled out that the object was debris that was struck by a passing vehicle and thrown over the bridge.

Meantime, MNDOT says the bridge and drivers beneathe it -- remain safe.

"There's nothing wrong, structurally, with the bridge at all," said Kevin Walker, a MNDOT spokesman.

For Kyle there's no question, the item that hit his car was concrete -- most likely from the bridge. But there's also no question for him, that he's grateful to be alive and with his young son and wife.

"Thankful I get to see my son tonight and put him in bed instead of in the hospital with a broken shoulder or worse," he said.

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