King’s Restaurant is going to be closed for a while, after an overnight crash reportedly moved the original section of the building approximately 18 inches.

A tractor-trailer/open garbage truck traveling north on South Main Street (Route 25) around 1 am, Wednesday, October 21, crashed into the building at 271 South Main Street. The eatery, which serves breakfast and lunch, was closed and empty at that hour.

Botsford Fire Rescue, Newtown Volunteer Ambulance Corps, and a paramedic all responded to the scene after it was discovered by Newtown police officers while on patrol.

Botsford Fire Chief Andrew White said fire and ambulance were dispatched at 1:06 am. Hook & Ladder firefighters were later added to the call, according to the chief, who said the truck “went off the road and straight into the restaurant.”

Jorge Delgado-Cardenas, identified in the police report as the driver, had to be extricated from the vehicle, but was then able to move about on his own. Delgado-Cardenas was operating a 1997 Kenworth T-800. The trailer was empty at the time of the crash.

“From what I could see, he had minimal injuries,” White said. “He was up and walking around before he was taken to the hospital.”

White said the truck went between the koi fish pond to the immediate west of the building and through the smaller, original dining area.

While that section of the building was destroyed, the fire chief said the bright orange fish — which are a popular attraction at the restaurant — survived.

“The fish did survive,” he said. “The fish are fine.”

A Newtown building official was also called to the scene.

Chief Building Official John Poeltl told The Newtown Bee Wednesday morning that the original part of the restaurant, “from the door toward the street” was “pretty much destroyed” by the collision.

“That part of the building didn’t really have much of a foundation,” Poeltl said, “so it broke that away from the newer addition, which had a foundation.”

According to the online Assessor’s Database, the original portion of the building dates from 1785.

DEEP was contacted, due to approximately 100 gallons of fuel that spilled. ACV Enviro, a waste management service, also responded to the crash scene, to remove remaining fuel from the truck’s tanks and hydraulic fluid from the trailer’s walking floor. That action needed to be done before the truck and trailer could be pulled from the building.

Firefighters cleared from the scene at 6:44 am, according to White. Employees from the remediation company JP Maguire were at the location, he said, closing up the building.

The cause of the accident is under investigation, according to police. An employee at the restaurant who answered the phone Wednesday morning confirmed the restaurant will be closed for a while.

This was at least the third vehicle vs building crash at the location in less than two years. In September 2019, a Freightliner filled with trash and building materials, also traveling north on South Main Street, narrowly missed crashing into the western portion of the building during the height of a lunch hour. The driver in that incident was transported to the hospital. The debris in the truck was spilled onto the property and along a stretch of South Main Street.

In March 2019, a 2002 Acura MDX that had swerved to avoid hitting another vehicle crashed through a wall and partially entered the structure, startling but not hitting anyone inside.

The diner has roughly 90 seats indoors, and outdoor seating for up to 60 in nonpandemic times.