CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- A piece of a crane fell from the sky in uptown Charlotte and nearly crushed a man's car while he was in the driver's seat Friday afternoon.

George Tsioumas said he was at a red light at the intersection of Third Street and Caldwell Street when he saw the piece of machinery coming down.

"I noticed a shadow which looked very weird," he said.

When the light turned green, he hit the gas to get out of the way at the last second.

"About a million things went through my head. I was trying to get out of the way. I didn't know where it was coming from, I just hoped that it was not the way I was going," Tsioumas said.

The crane part slammed into the ground, but still scratched his car. Shards flew into his sunglasses.

"I was just lucky not to get crushed," he said.

Other drivers could only watch.

"I looked and saw it hit and then wires started coming across and I just swerved to the right," said Richard McNeely.

Police said the construction crane the piece came from had tipped over onto a parking deck. They said no injuries were reported, but it did cause structural damage.

Third Street will be closed from Brevard to Davidson and Caldwell Street will be closed from Second Street to Fourth Street while crews clean up the scene and make repairs Friday night.

Motorists should take Fourth, Davidson, Brevard and Second streets in the meantime.