DENVER (KDVR) — Rare books, some that were more than a century old, were damaged when a pickup truck crashed into a bookstore near the state Capitol on Wednesday night.

Capitol Hill Books is at the busy intersection of Colfax Avenue and Grant Street. The store has been there for four decades. The third owner of the store, Holly Brooks who has worked there for 16 years, told FOX31’s Rogelio Mares that the crash actually wasn’t what damaged the books.

She said no one was hurt when the truck ran through the corner near the store’s entrance around 9 p.m. But right behind the window, Brooks said, was a radiator.

“That’s what stopped the truck from coming straight through into the store,” Brooks said.

It was the steam from that radiator that caused most of the damage to the books.

Brooks said it was disappointing because some of the books were older than 100 years. She said it is not just age but the limited edition that makes the books valuable.

“Some of them are rare, not because they’re old, but because they’re hard to find,” she said.

Brooks said the driver wasn’t drunk and that it might have just been a plain old accident.

“He claims he was hit from behind and it threw him off course,” Brooks said.

She said she has insurance but isn’t sure if the damage to the books will be covered. As far as damage to the store itself, she said that will be handled by the landlord of the building.